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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary School officially kicked off a new pilot of a statewide program geared toward keeping children in school throughout the year.

The new attendance-based program is called “Steal the Show, Eight or Below,” and it encourages students at the school to be in the classroom every day they can physically make it. The goal is for students to not miss more than eight days across the school year.

Mary C. Snow Elementary got its students excited for the program with a pep-rally encouraging consistent attendance and members of the community such as Capital High School football players, West Virginia State University cheerleaders, and Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin all made an appearance.

Mary C. Snow Elementary Principal Destiny Spencer says there is a statewide problem with absences in schools.

“We have a problem with absences and we’re trying to get the message out that, even if you are going to the doctor and getting an excuse, it’s still an absence,” Spencer said Friday afternoon. “We’re getting the kids excited about coming to school and we just want them to know that we really want them to be here.”

Mayor Goodwin says young children missing school on a regular basis can be detrimental.

“Every day that a student misses school, they not only miss instruction, but they miss time and socialization with their friends,” Goodwin said. “They miss breakfast, they miss lunch, they miss that kind of interaction and that nutrition that we need to give to our students every day.”

Students at Mary C. Snow Elementary will not be left without rewards for potential improved attendance numbers, as the top eight attended students will be awarded $100 at the end of the year and the most well attended student in the school will win a PlayStation 5.

Spencer says the effort is a trial and error to see if it can be spread across the county and the state.

“This is a new initiative, so it’s going to be a trial-and-error type of thing too and then we hope to share what worked with the other schools,” Spencer said.

The problem of absences is one that the state is trying to fix, as a new policy has been put into place to where students are considered “chronically absent” if they have 10 or more unexcused absences.

Spencer says getting a program to address attendance together was no overnight process.

“It’s been in the works since past February,” Spencer said. “We met every Saturday almost in the month of April and May, so we’ve taken a lot of time and worked really hard.”

Goodwin says she sees how hard the staff at Mary C. Snow Elementary are working and it’s paying off.

“Mary C. Snow Elementary has such a dynamic staff and you can see that through the energy we got back from the kids today,” Goodwin said. “Listen, if we’re asking the kids to show up, we’d better show up.”

Spencer, who was recently named the Kanawha County Principal of the Year, says the West Side community has been supportive and interactive to help programs like this work.

“I have seen nothing but support,” Spencer said. “Anytime I reach out to anybody, they are right there for me and the students. I couldn’t ask for a better community, and I am happy to be the principal at Mary C. Snow.”

Goodwin says sees something special in Spencer as a leader for children in the city.

“As a daughter of two public school teachers, I see it in her like I saw it in my parents,” Goodwin said. “She has such a dynamic personality for sure, but she has the passion that we need in all of our teachers and all of our school administrators because that is contagious.”

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday he is suspending his campaign and threw his support behind former President Donald Trump — the GOP presidential nominee.

The announcement from the environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, who has held on to a long-shot presidential bid, comes just a day after Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

“It’s with a sense of victory and not defeat that I’m suspending my campaign activities,” Kennedy said in Phoenix, Arizona, during a lengthy news conference.

“Not only did we do the impossible by collecting a million signatures, but we changed the national political conversation forever,” he said, adding that “I can say to all who have worked so hard the last year-and-a-half — thank you for a job well done.”

Kennedy acknowledged that he “cannot, in good conscience, ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours, or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House.”

He clarified that he is not terminating his campaign and that his name will “remain on the ballot in most states.”

The third-party candidate said he would remove his name from the ballot in about 10 battleground states “where my presence would be a spoiler.” He did not specify the states.

He said voters who live in a blue state can vote for him “without harming or helping [former] President Trump or Vice President Harris.”

In response, Trump thanked Kennedy during a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“That was very nice,” the former president said, adding that Kennedy is a “great guy” and “respected by everybody.”

Kennedy drew speculation about withdrawing his candidacy and backing Trump in the days leading up to the Friday announcement. On Thursday, he filed the paperwork to withdraw his name from Arizona’s ballot, per Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in a post on X.

Kennedy has faced dwindling polling numbers and financial trouble for his campaign while undertaking a monumental task in getting on states’ ballots as an independent candidate. He initially ran as a Democrat but switched to an independent ticket in October 2023.

Kennedy — son of Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of John F. Kennedy — is part of one of the most storied families in Democratic politics. Throughout his campaign, he amplified anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and was seen as a possible spoiler candidate.

Harris-Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said “for any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you,” per a Friday statement in response to Kennedy suspending his campaign.

“In order to deliver for working people and those who feel left behind, we need a leader who will fight for you, not just for themselves, and bring us together, not tear us apart. Vice President Harris wants to earn your support.”

Meanwhile, Trump is set to speak in Glendale, Arizona, later Friday. His campaign said Thursday that a “special guest” would join him at the rally.