It’s cool to be in school. Just check the results of the GRAD-sponsored Perfect Attendance Day competition, which began on Oct. 5 and wasn’t settled until Oct. 14.

It required two playoff days for Sonoraville Middle School to win the Gordon County School System Perfect Attendance Day Charles Skaggs plaque, while Calhoun Elementary School needed one playoff day to claim the first annual Mr. Paul award.

Monthly winners, meanwhile, were Calhoun Elementary, Sonoraville Middle and Calhoun High.

But it was the keen competition for the Skaggs and Mr. Paul plaques that had everybody buzzing and the kids at their desks, on time and learning, especially in the county.

Sonoraville and Ashworth Middle Schools tied with a 98.2 percentage rate on the first day of competition, then deadlocked again a week later with identical records. Then, last week, Sonoraville Middle got 98.1 percent of its students in school to earn the Skaggs plaque and an ice cream party.

See, it’s cool to be in school.

“It was an exciting couple of weeks,” said County Schools social worker Whitney Carnes, also a GRAD member. “The schools and their students were really into it, with enthusiasm and a desire to win the competition.”

City Schools also went an extra day to determine the winner of the first-ever Mr. Paul award, named for the long-time jack of all trades who hasn’t missed a day of work in the last 28 years and has been absent only for surgery in his 50-plus year career.

CES and the high school tied on the first day of “perfect” competition with 98.2 percent ratings. However, the following week CES won the right to display the Mr. Paul plague with a 98.0 percentage to CHS’s 97.0.

“Competition was intense,” said city schools social worker Amanda Schutz. “We are very proud of all our schools, all of which had good attendance during the first few weeks of school.”

CES is promised a pajama party, an ice cream fete and a Mr. Paul appearance to present the award named in his honor.

If a school had achieved perfect attendance, a Tree of Knowledge, compliments of Home Depot, would have been planted on its campus.

The attendance competition and accompanying awards is sponsored by GRAD (Get Ready Achieve Dream), a collaborative stay in school committee made up of representatives from The Calhoun-Gordon Council for a Literate Community, Family Connections, United Way and the two public school systems.

Monthly competition will continue throughout the school year.