North Carolina teen graduates without missing a day of school in 13 years

Jet, August 19, 1996 by Katara A. Washington

Each and every day for 13 years, nine months each year and five days a week, Vaddrick Parker showed up for school. The 17-year-old, who recently graduated from high school, never missed a day of school.

But according to Vaddrick, he didn't plan to go through school with perfect attendance.

"This year (senior year) is the only year I really took it seriously," he tells JET. "It wasn't like I sat down and said, `I'm going to go to school without missing a day.' "

However, Vaddrick's mother, Carolyn Parker, had a different viewpoint. She said she knew he could do it after his last day of kindergarten. "He had gone to school one full year and never had to miss a day," she tells JET at her home in Hobgood, NC. "And if he could do it that one year, he could do it 12 more."

Although Mrs. Parker, 39, knew her oldest son could do it, she says she never pushed him.

"I didn't have to push him," she says with pride. "He just got to the point. Sometimes he'd get sick, and I'd look at him and know he's feeling real bad. I'd say, `You don't have to go,' but he'd say, `Ma, I got to go; I got to go.' "

Vaddrick says his mother helped him make it through, especially the time he was hours away from breaking his perfect record during his senior year.

"That night I was real sick," he recollects about the Sunday night a virus heaped severe pain in his stomach. "I just knew I wasn't going to go. I had no plans of going to school that morning."

Vaddrick said he basically had given up.

"My mother slept beside my bed," he says. "She was there; every time I woke up she was there doing a crossword puzzle. I said, `It's going to hurt her if I don't go to school.' That's when I realized that I could make it then. I got inspiration. I woke up, and I was fine."

Even the chicken pox--which is bound to keep just about every kid out of school a few days--cooperated with Vaddrick. "He got the chicken pox the day school closed," his mom says with great relief about the last day of Vaddrick's fifth-grade year. "When he got off the bus, bumps started popping over his face."

Attending school each and every day has had its advantages. Vaddrick graduated with a 3.8 grade point average, and he finished eighth in a class of 143. "You never miss anything," Vaddrick says.

Another thing probably helped Vaddrick to maintain his A average--Mrs. Parker's rule: "You can't go to school everyday and be a dummy. I didn't accept C's."

She has the same rule for her youngest son, Christopher, 11, who just completed fifth grade and his sixth year of perfect attendance.

Vaddrick has also received letters of recognition from President Bill Clinton and North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt.

The outstanding student, who was involved in many organizations in school--three of which he served as president, will now try to continue his perfect record at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC. He received a four-year academic scholarship that will pay for his tuition and room and board at the school that is about a two-hour drive from his home.

He's going to major in biology. He plans to become a medical doctor.

When Vaddrick's not attending school every day, he enjoys hanging out, especially with his best friend, Albert Whitaker, who will be his roommate in college. The two share a great friendship. "He's there for me; I'm there for him," Albert says. "We have a bond."

Vaddrick says he also enjoys "talking on the phone with some of my female friends."

Vaddrick, who is 6 feet 4, enjoys visits with this grandmother, Donna Vaughan, who lieves next door. Mrs. Vaughan has made a pact with her grandson to help him to meet another goal.

"I told him if he makes it through college without missing a day, I'll dance at his wedding."

Living next door to the Parkkers, Mrs. Vaughan says she'd see Vaddrick going to school some days when he was not feeling 100 percent. "I wouldn't dare say nothing," she admits. "He knows how bad he feels."

Vaddrick's teachers could also tell when he was not feeling his best.

"A couple of days he came of school when he didn't feel well," says Ethel Whitaker, his 12th-grade English teacher. "I'd say, `Vaddrick. You're not feeling well?' He'd say, `No ma'am.' I'd say `But Vaddrick you got to feel better today because you know you have to stay in school all day today.' "

Vaddrick says God and his family played a big part in helping him to reach his goal. "I want to first of all thank God because he made it all possible," Vaddrick says with sincerity. "My mother and father and teacher and family and friends--they helped me indirectly."

His father, Thurman Parker, said he and his wife tried to instill good values in Vaddrick. "We more like got him in the right direction, and he just followed," Mr. Parker, 41, tells JET.

And to students or anyone else who wants to get perfect attendance, who wants to get perfect attendance, Vaddrick says: "Don't set your mind to go 13 years. Take it a day at a time. You have to pray and hope that nothing comes up bad. Take it one day at the time. If it works out, it works out."