This afternoon, the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Public Schools announced a joint initiative, featuring Jabari Parker as spokesman and aimed at increasing awareness of the value of attending school all day, every day. 

"In every aspect of life, success comes to those who show up every day willing to work hard," Parker said. "You can’t learn if you aren’t in school. It’s my hope that every MPS student will realize the importance of making every day count."

"Students who are in school all day, every day increase their academic success, and that’s what we want for all of our young people," MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver said. "We are grateful to the Milwaukee Bucks and Jabari Parker for recognizing that everyone in our community has a stake in helping our students succeed."

The collaborative will feature a multi-media campaign featuring Parker, who also pledged each semester to treat select MPS students with great attendance numbers or have shown notable improvement to dinner and to make visits to MPS schools with increased attendance numbers throughout the school year. Meanwhile, MPS will take steps of its own to improve consistent attendance numbers, including interventions for students with increased absences, follow-up calls home on absent days, increased staff training and attempting to develop stronger relationships with parents.