Moore’s perfect attendance started at Ashworth Elementary
Seguin High School senior Connor Moore has made it a point not to miss anything during his senior year of high school.
That should come as no surprise to anyone who knows Moore. He hasn’t missed anything since he started in the Arlington ISD as a kindergartener at Ashworth Elementary in 2012.
When Moore graduates from Seguin later this week, it will cap an Arlington ISD career of perfection as Moore went 13 years without missing a day of school.
It’s a streak that took 13 years to happen and is a stunning achievement as Moore made it through COVID, the sniffles, the senior itch and every other obstacle that could stand between him and perfection.
“I’ve been sick a lot,” said Moore. “I was just kind of sick at breaks. My mom would say that my body has kind of trained itself to be sick when I’m on breaks and then be perfectly fine when I was at school.”
It’s true. His mom Celeste Moore Cervantes, who happens to be a nurse, joked that he conditioned his body to get sick at just the right time. And that time was immediately once there was a school break.
It wasn’t easy, though.
There were some near misses for Moore, who plans to go to Tarrant County College to start his career before moving to Texas A&M University where he hopes to study forensics.
There was a family funeral in elementary school when Connor had to leave early. But he made it past the time attendance was taken. And there were the well-timed trips to the orthodontist when Connor got braces. Then like everyone else, Connor had to navigate through COVID. Missing school wasn’t an issue, as it was easy for him to make classes when students were studying online. Of course, he did end up getting COVID. But like his mom said, that happened when school was out for summer.
The idea of the chance at perfect attendance has been with him since he was at Ashworth.
“They had an award on a plaque, a perfect attendance award,” he said. “It was around third grade-ish when I realized I had perfect attendance. My teacher at the time, Ms. (Kathryn) Kaju, she told me I had perfect attendance and should go for that. That was the award I was going for at the time, was getting my name on a plaque. Junior high (Ousley) it just kind of happened that I got through it. Then I was like, ‘I’m just going to continue.’”
While the family played a role in helping Moore achieve perfection, his mom credits him.
“It was all Connor,” Moore Cervantes said. “He wanted it.”
And it’s not like Moore made it this far while in a bubble. He played cello in the orchestra and the euphonium in band. He’s also an honor graduate. He’s just one that has shown up every day….. for 13 years!
“It’s a testament to the family,” Seguin principal Billy Linson said. “They made sacrifices to ensure that he’s able to get here and able to get the education he needs from us on a regular, daily basis. He’s a great kid. It’s really a testament to him, too, fighting through those days when it was a struggle to get up.”