Achieving strong school attendance has been a national challenge for years, but following the pandemic, attendance issues were exacerbated and the negative effects have been emerging. We were approached by The SOURCE, a local social service agency, to help spread awareness of this issue and its far-reaching effects on our community.

The “Be Present” campaign launched in the early fall and focuses on trying to undo a set of beliefs that became prominent during the pandemic, that absence is acceptable, and that learning from home has the same benefits as being in school. In fact, being in school gives students the best chance to read on grade level, graduate, and be life ready.

Earlier this year, the state of Indiana, set forth new standards for attendance, stating that students need to attend 94% of school days or be considered chronically absent. Students get 180 days of school each year so missing more than 11 days in a school year is too much.

CAMPAIGN VIDEO

A cornerstone for the campaign is the video. Produced for social media distribution, we created platform specific versions of the video that would appeal to all audiences. The video was scripted with the goal of raising awareness and building community support around the issue of chronic absenteeism in Elkhart County. LightBox created custom animations to visually support key statistics and talking points throughout the video.

GOALS

Getting the message out into the public was a comprehensive effort and we took a multi-pronged approach to reach as many people in as many ways as possible. The Be Present campaign was developed with the help of representatives from all seven of Elkhart County’s public schools and numerous community partners to reach students, families, and community members through billboards, banners, mailers, posters, yard signs and a promotional video.

CAMPAIGN VISUALS

The visual language was developed with the school context in mind, employing bright primary colors, and hand lettered and illustrative elements, reflective of early learning skills and as a throw back to a time before there were tablets in every classroom.