Bryant Harris put the finishing touches on a paper crown adorned with stickers of 100 symbols before counting to 100 with his classmates at Sahuarita Primary School.
In another part of the building, students in Gabby St. Paul's kindergarten class showed off their necklaces made of 100 pieces of Froot Loops.
Across the campus, the kids in Emily Nelson's first-grade class boasted that they could eat 100 cookies, apples and — gulp — salads.
It's no coincidence that the number 100 was so popular in Sahuarita Unified School District Jan. 23. It was the 100th day of classes in the district, a day that school officials and some students know has a great effect on their future.
The attendance count at the district's five schools on this day and the 99 before it determines the amount of state money distributed to the district for next school year.
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The formula: Add each day's attendance in the district and divide by 100. Multiply that by the per-pupil amount given to each district in Arizona, and you have the district's budget for the following year, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
But that wasn't always the case. The budget at one time was determined only by the count on the 100th day. To entice kids to come to school that day, fun events were organized at many schools around town. Though the intent has changed, Sahuarita Primary School and Sahuarita Intermediate School continue to organize educational events on the 100th day, not only to teach kids about the significance of the number but to make the day fun.
In addition to counting exercises, students created posters with the number 100 made of candy, cereal or pennies. Some classes participated in a door-decorating contest judged by parents.
"We still do it out of tradition, and it keeps them continually talking about the day in school," said Sahuarita Primary School Principal Tina Steward. "It gets the kids excited."
Parent Kristy Harris spent part of the morning at Sahuarita Primary School decorating the door outside her daughter's second-grade classroom. She and her daughter, Jasmine, thought of creating a theme around basketball, with cheerleaders made of streamers.
"We're going to win," Matthew Kiernan, 8, said after admiring the display for the first time.
Though the day is full of laughter and fun from kindergarten through fifth grade, the day passes with little thought for the older students.
"Today we're just making sure we're double-checking the attendance so that we have accurate results for the 100th day," said Sahuarita High School teacher Kelly Bell.
Teachers say they don't talk to parents much about the importance of the 100th day, but kids are often in tune with the significance.
"They knew it was very important for everybody in terms of attendance to be here and what we get out of it," St. Paul said.
Most school districts in the Tucson area also had their 100th day last week, and some say their focus on the day is dwindling as its importance decreases.
But Sahuarita district officials are glad teachers still put heavy emphasis on the 100th day.
"It's an opportunity to celebrate that they've been in school 100 days, and an opportunity to reinforce math skills," Assistant Superintendent Manuel Valenzuela said. "It's also a nice opportunity to reinforce the importance of attendance, that all of those days are important."
Attendance in the district on Jan. 23 was quite high, officials say, which pleased and surprised them, given that the previous day had about 70 percent of students out the morning after a snowstorm hampered travel in the area.
While coming to school on the 100th day is important, Steward agrees with Valenzuela that families need to know the significance of coming to school every day. And if it requires conjuring up special activities, then that's fine.
"When I was teaching kindergarten, it was the most fun day of the year," she said. "There's always a lot of celebration."
