The Austin Independent School District has named the winners of its AISD "Every Day Counts" Attendance PSA Contest:

• Travis Heights Elementary School - Fourth grader Anna Greer and fifth graders Noah Peña, Joseph Ramirez, Desiray Robledo, Danielle Salazar, Abigail Trejo, and Noah Hanser-Young.
• Martin Middle School - Sixth graders Nathaniel Davis, Cirila Huaracha, Jose Marciel, Brandon Martinez, and Joshua Sanchez.
• Austin High School - Twelfth grader Grace Potter.

The runners up of the contest are:

• Overton Elementary School - Fourth graders Derryn Abraham, Monica Balderas, Amy Dominguez, Christopher Fernandez, Tardrick Fowler, Kazaria Gaines, Omar Gomez, Marian Guillory, Eliza Leija, Edwin Lopez, Gabriela Martinez, Kijana Minnard, Adriana Martinez, Daytron Owens, Anthony Rodriguez, Kay Pena DeLa Rosa, Samuel Santander, Daniel A. Tenorio, Raymundo Ventura, Betzaida Villafranca, Nathaniel Washington, and Patrick Washington.
• Reagan High School - Tenth grader Michael Teague, eleventh grader Nijalon Dunn, and twelfth graders JaQuarius Daniels, Victor Gaspar, Lee Holt, and Dontre Jones.

One award is being given for each age category: Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. The winning teams will receive electronics and gift cards as prizes, prior to the District's Winter Break.

Improving student attendance is a key component of the District's Strategic Plan and is a top priority for the 2010-2011 school year. AISD is working with students, families, and the community to ensure regular school attendance and improve academic achievement. The PSA contest is one element of the aggressive campaign to improve student attendance by engaging students. Another popular feature of the campaign is AISD's "Attend-O-Meter," which allows parents, students and others to view current and historical attendance data on a campus-by-campus basis. Data for the second six-week grading period has now been added; the meter is located on the AISD website at http://www.austinisd.org/everydaycounts.

The videos of the five contest finalists, were shown during the Superintendent's recent State of the District address and can be viewed below. These videos will also be shown on AISD-TV, and will be distributed to commercial Austin television outlets.