Lakota girl finishes 4 straight years of perfect attendance

RAPID CITY, S.D. –– For four straight school years, Tracelyn Strand, 10, (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) has been to school on time and has not missed a single day at General Beadle Elementary, located in north Rapid City.

Native Sun News was contacted by Tracelyn’s father, Trent Strand, regarding his daughter’s amazing achievement. This after contacting various media outlets around Rapid City who were not interested in featuring this young Lakota girl’s heroism as a student role model.

NSN interviewed Tracelyn with her family including parents Trent and Tondee as well as her sisters Prestyn, 8, and Kaesyn, 3.

Now in the 4th grade, Tracelyn who is part of a family of eight is also a student athlete. According to her father Trent, “She is a multi-sport athlete that excels in basketball and softball. She plays for the Lil Cobbler 4th grade traveling basketball team, the General Beadle basketball team and the ASA Fast pitch Softball Blue Devils.”

 Tracelyn plays for the Blue Devils, an ASA fast pitch softball team. Tracelyn credits family support for helping her to achieve her goals at school and in sports. COURTESY/Tracelyn Strand Tracelyn is an inspiring young lady whose confident disposition shines through when she discusses her academics. She is proud of her grades and speaks nicely of her teachers and classmates.

The Lakota fourth grader said, “I get 2’s and 3’s. My teacher is Miss Chapman; she’s nice and helps us whenever we’re struggling, like with a math problem. My favorite subject is writing.”

Being from a family of eight living under one roof, getting everyone to school and work on time is a daily struggle. But with disciplined children, the family manages to make it happen. Her father Trent wakes the family, while Tondee prepares breakfast before school.

“I wake up at 7:15 every day. Because it’s part of being a role model and I like being a role model,” Tracelyn said with a smile.


General Beadle Elementary offers incentives for students and classes who have good and perfect attendance. “My first year I got a bike and my third year I got a Kindle (tablet). I’m working on my fourth year now of perfect attendance,” she told NSN.

As young as Tracelyn is, she understands her status as a role model for others. When she grows up, she would like to be a teacher. To her fellow students Tracelyn said, “You got to wake up earlier to get to school on time. Try harder. Just keep trying to be here to school every day.” Spoken like a true educator.

According to Tracelyn, about eight students in her class have perfect attendance and half of them are Native American students.

Tracelyn’s younger sister Prestyn wants to follow in her footsteps. Despite being a naturally shy child, Prestyn has made the adjustment into second grade and her father credits this in part due to her teacher.

Trent told NSN, “Last year it was a struggle to get her to get up and go to school. She would fight it every morning. This year it’s the complete opposite. She is up and ready to go. I think most of the credit goes to her teacher, Jonni Hertel. She is a great teacher and Prestyn absolutely loves her.”

Prestyn also plays softball and looks forward to playing basketball like her big sister Tracelyn.

Native Sun News contacted General Beadle Elementary Principal Carrie Davis regarding her efforts to provide incentives to students at her school. Principal Davis confirmed, “Tracelyn actually has Perfect Perfect Attendance; she has no tardies and no absences.” This is for four consecutive years.

In her sixth year at General Beadle, Principal Davis wanted to find ways of “getting kids in their seats.” Four years ago, she began giving away bikes for Perfect Perfect Attendance awardees. In her first year of doing this, Principal Davis awarded four bikes and now in 2016 she is giving 50 bikes to students.

Principal Davis is pleased with her students and families, saying, “We’re meeting that goal of 95 percent” of student attendance. She is proud of her students who get to school on time every day, but encourages all families to continue in their efforts to get students to  class on time.

Of Tracelyn Strand, Principal Davis says, “She is doing great, even with her family and getting her little sister here on time. She (Tracelyn) wants to be here and it’s a positive thing.”

Tracelyn Strand is a deserving student who is excelling in sports and academics and is worthy of public notice.

– Contact Richie Richards at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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