Mooreland Heights Elementary Rockets Soar in DA Charme Allen’s Bike Reward Program

District Attorney Charme Allen congratulated 34 Mooreland Heights Elementary School students for achieving perfect attendance by rewarding them with a brand-new bike on Thursday. Epilepsy Foundation of East Tennessee partnered with the program by providing helmets for each student who earned a bike.

 “The program sponsored by General Allen and her office has been a wonderful attendance incentive for our students. In addition to a 70 percent increase in our perfect attendance rate, we have seen a positive effect on our overall attendance rates. This is fantastic,” exclaimed MHES Principal Brandi Self.

Since taking office, General Allen has partnered with different Knox County elementary schools to promote the importance of school attendance by rewarding students who achieve perfect attendance with a new bike.  As part of her truancy reduction initiative, the Bike Reward Program encourages the development of positive habits and helps set a solid foundation for success.

“In my career as a frontline prosecutor, I saw how significant education is to a person’s ability to live a productive, safe, and healthy life. While my primary job as the District Attorney is to seek justice and to help maintain public safety, there are numerous ways my office can partner with the community to help prevent youth and adults from becoming involved in the criminal justice system,” shared General Allen. “Encouraging and demonstrating the importance of school attendance is just one of many ways we can be smart on prevention.”

Reducing truancy is a vitally important step in preventing Knox County youth from entering the juvenile justice system. Research and first-hand experience tell us that children who are truant have lower grades, need to repeat grades more often, have higher rates of expulsion and have lower rates of high school graduation. Research also tells us that children who habitually miss school are at risk of substance abuse, gang activity, criminal behavior, suicide and early sexual activity, making truancy a community issue, not just an education issue.

The program has positively impacted participating schools by increasing school attendance and raising overall awareness about the importance of school attendance. Previous partnering elementary schools have also attributed the Bike Reward Program to helping improve test scores and school culture.

General Allen is committed to reducing truancy rates through supporting prevention and early intervention and looks forward to partnering with other schools in the future. If you would like to contribute to the Bike Reward Program, contact Emily Scheuneman at 865-215-3736 or emily.scheuneman@knoxcounty.org.