BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FAIRFIELD -- Imagine attending school every day for 12 years without missing a day.
That's what two Fairfield High School seniors, Mark Metzler, 19, and Scott Monahan, 18, achieved Monday.
"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" said Naomi Browning, the school's attendance officer. "And they are not tardy, and they don't ask for early dismissal."
For these roll models, who will graduate Wednesday, school has gone on despite rain, sleet and stomachaches, despite every blemish and difficult test.
"It's unusual to have two perfect-attendance people in one class," Ms. Browning said. "Two years ago, we had one do it, and another one did it five years ago. But in the 17 years that I've been here, this is the first time we have ever had two students achieve perfect attendance in the same class."
What about in the same neighborhood?
In 1996, Pat Elmenthaler graduated from Fairfield High with perfect attendance from the first through the 12th grades. Oddly enough, Mark, Scott and Pat all live within one-tenth of a mile of one another.
Their legacy may continue next year. Mark's brother, Adam, has completed 11 years with perfect attendance, Ms. Browning said. Carol Monahan said she and her husband, Thom, didn't tell their son to attend school when he was ill.
"He was blessed with good health," she said. "And when he did get sick, it was on the weekends."
"Once I got through middle school, and I hadn't missed a day, I made (perfect attendance) a goal," Scott said Monday.
He will attend Purdue University to study engineering.
Lou Metzler said he and his wife, Nancy, watched with interest as their son Mark attended school eagerly.
"Early on, of course, he wasn't aware of the possible consequences," Mr. Metzler said. "But midway through grade school, he started to realize that the awards were important, and he pressed on through some minor illnesses. He realized that other people value this sort of thing on a job resume."
Mark, who has received four scholarships, will attend Miami University to study business.
"I wasn't ill enough in elementary school that I couldn't get to school," Mark said Monday. "So I thought how much it would benefit me later in the future. I thought, "Let's see if we can get 12 years out of this.' "
