"A" IS FOR ATTENDANCE: WOODLAND TEACHER WORKS 56 YEARS WITHOUT MISSING A DAY

Naomi Duncan discussed an art assignment with student Jennifer Wells at Woodland School.

Maybe the secret to Naomi Duncan's success was in the apples.

The Woodland junior and senior high school art teacher has received many an apple in her 56-year teaching career, which might explain why she hasn't had one absence in that entire time.

That's right -- perfect attendance for 56 consecutive years.

In fact, Duncan can track her perfect attendance even further. Although she won't give specific ages or dates "because that would be telling my age," she did say she hasn't missed a day of school in her entire educational career, including grade school, college and graduate school.

That's a total of 69 years.

Duncan's record cannot be easily explained. She grew up in a rural school district during a time when immunizations were not common and "snow days" just didn't happen.

People got sick but they kept on going, she said. Only when they were seriously ill did they stay home and stop activity.

Because of this, she said her record probably had less to do with apples than with determination and sheer good luck.

"After I'd gone a few years without missing I just decided I'd see how long I could go," she said. "I've never had a serious illness, and when I did get sick it was usually during vacations."

Duncan managed to catch all of the expected childhood illnesses, like chicken pox and measles, during Christmas and summer breaks. She hasn't had any major illness since adulthood.

She and her husband also have no children, another reason she attributes to her record remaining intact. Teachers often have to use their sick days to take care of sick children rather than on themselves, she said.

Co-workers agreed. However, they said, a record like Duncan's is an accomplishment for anyone.

"I do well if I don't use all of my sick days and end up owing at the end of the year," said co-worker Kathy Woelje. "She's great."

Regional education supervisor Richard Trout said it's a fact that teachers, like students, will have to miss days. That's why Duncan's record is such an accomplishment, he said.

Trout served as Woodland superintendent for 25 of Duncan's 44 years as an educator in the district.

"She's one of a kind," he said. "That's just not something you see everyday."

Probably the greatest threat to Duncan's record has been inclement weather. Making it to work in rural districts like Woodland is often a challenge for teachers and students, she said.

"A few times I've got to school and wondered whether I'd be able to get home, but we always make it," she said. "We try whenever the weather's threatening to get to the school and back home as soon as possible."

New students often ask Duncan about her attendance. They hear about it from older students and want to know why anyone would want to be at school every day for so many years, she said.

"I'm always anxious to get back just like the students," she said. "At the end of the school year they're tired and think they can't wait for summer, but after awhile they get bored and want to get back at it. Well, so do I."

Even after so many years of educating, Duncan said she isn't considering retirement. Getting up and going to school has been a way of life for more than half a century, she said, and as long as she's able she'll keep doing it.

"It hasn't entered my mind yet, but you never know when I'll want to or when something happens that will make retirement necessary."