The three students who share one of the biggest accomplishments in Baltimore County this year say they never sought to be perfect. They just tried to be present.
Carly Ordak, Danielle Spyridakos and Renee Yusuff graduated Tuesday from Eastern Technical High School with perfect attendance records, having attended school every day from kindergarten through 12th grade. They were the only students in Baltimore County to graduate this year having done that.
"I think this is an incredible accomplishment," said Tom Evans, principal of Eastern Tech. "It's amazing to me that there are only three and are all in one school. But it's a tribute to our kids wanting to be here and wanting to do well."
The students said their goal of perfect attendance was based on something more than academic inspiration: Ordak was promised a car; Spyridakos' mom didn't give her an option; and Yusuff saw someone on television win money for the accomplishment when she was young.
But once they started down the path, all three set their eyes on their own prizes.
"I finally realized I'm not getting the new car," Ordak said. "But it was always in the back of my mind, and I took my education really seriously. I saw it as a way to learn everything I could."
"She's getting college instead," Jennifer Ordak said of her daughter's promised car. Ordak will attend Philadelphia University in the fall.
Ordak said academics never came easy, which inspired her to work harder. It helped, she said, that when she fell ill, it always seemed to be during the summer.
"I've always had to work hard," Ordak said. "I think that's part of the reason why perfect attendance was important to me, because I wasn't the smartest person in my school."
Spyridakos, 18, who will be Ordak's classmate at Philadelphia University, said she couldn't boast of being a top student, but while the sniffles kept many of her friends at home, she hopped to school, once with a broken toe and another time with a sprained ankle.
"I went and just kind of cried along the way," Spyridakos said.
Christine Spyridakos said she pushed her daughter to maintain her perfect attendance because she believed it could help her get into college.
Spyridakos said she hopes to do the same in college.
"I'm going to do my best," she said. "Even without my mom pushing me, I'd probably feel guilty not going."
Yusuff, 17, described finishing with perfect attendance with one word: relieved.
"I'm done with school, I don't have to go in feeling sick and making it through the day," said Yusuff, who will attend Howard University in the fall. Yusuff said she realized she could make it once she finished eighth grade.
"I don't know how she did it," said her mother, Rakiya Yusuff. "She's a go-getter. We're very proud."
Yusuff said she has vowed to continue attending school every day through college.
"I made it through 13 years," she said. "Why not four more?"
Two Baltimore students, one from a public school and the other from a private school, graduated this year with perfect attendance records.
Kristal Davis, 17, graduated Saturday from Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School with perfect attendance for the past 13 years. A self-described social butterfly, Davis said she enjoyed going to school because she never missed a class or a chance to socialize. She will attend the Community College of Baltimore County — Essex.
"I liked meeting people," she said. "When you don't go to school, you don't meet everybody. And I met everybody."
Courtney Lecates, 18, who graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame last month, said she was inspired by Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr.'s record for showing up every day for work. Lecates attended school every day for 14 years. She will attend Towson University in the fall.
"He was the 'Iron Man,' and I thought I would be the 'Iron Woman,' " she said. "But I was no good at baseball, so I just stuck with school."