Count ME In has announced the winners of its student poster contest. Local winners are Nora Knowlton, Greene Central Elementary in Greene; Marcos Barrionuevo, Molly Ockett School, Fryeburg; and Marcus Bouchard, Martel Elementary School, Lewiston. The posters are reminders that chronic absence affects all kids, not just the one who is absent. Chronic absenteeism, missing 18 or more days of school, impacts student achievement and can undermine success for students. The problem can start as early as kindergarten and first grade impeding a student’s progress in reading and math. It happens when students miss just a few days every month. Analyses of data from multiple states and school districts, many conducted in partnership between the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and the National Governors Association, have consistently found chronic absenteeism to be among the strongest predictor of dropping out of high school. FMI: www.countmeinmaine.org