Principal Vanessa Boyd of Broad Street Elementary School gets soaked with a firehouse Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6, 2022, as a reward for the students completing more than 600 good deeds since the start of school. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

Broad Street Elementary School principal Vanessa Boyd was never so happy to be sprayed by a fire hose as she was Thursday, Oct. 6.

The school had a mission to have a student attendance rate of 90% throughout September, which Boyd said is a goal shared by several schools in Butler Area School District.

The students turned out for the month and, as a result, the Butler Bureau of Fire visited the school to give Boyd a fire hose shower. No one wanted to miss it.

“Today our attendance was 97.18% for this event,” Boyd said. “We are trying to encourage that with kids and parents, so we can do what we need to do to educate the scholars.”

In addition to each homeroom trying to maintain the best attendance rate throughout the month, Boyd said they were also competing to complete 600 acts of kindness throughout September.

Each act of kindness earned a student one ticket for a raffle for gear from the Butler nonprofit Fishing for Memories, and 12 tickets were pulled Thursday for those baskets.

Boyd said the attendance initiatives and the random acts of kindness goals are planned to continue throughout the school year.

“Every month, the competition never ends for the homerooms,” Boyd said. “We do have things we would like to do; we would like to get our parents involved in our next activity.”

Butler firefighter Dean Selfridge prepares a fire hose to soak the staff of Broad Street Elementary School Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6, 2022. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

Broad Street Elementary School officer Jim Green gives a thumbs up to all the kids from the school as he stands in a watery mist Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6, 2022. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

Chris Ebner, of Fishing for Memories, left, and Vanessa Boyd, principal of Broad Street Elementary School, hold more than 600 cards submitted by students who performed good deeds since the school year started. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle 10/6/22

Each time a student performed a good deed he or she got to put up a fish in the halls of Broad Street Elementary School in Butler. Over the last month, they did more than 600 good deeds. On Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, the reward for reaching their goal was getting the staff soaked by the Butler fire department. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

In the back, Principal Vanessa Boyd, left, and Chris Ebner from Fishing for Memories pose with the winning students from each class. On Thursday, Oct, 6, 2022, one student from each class was selected to receive a gift bag with over $70 worth of prizes in it. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

Officer Jim Green of Broad Street Elementary School in Butler tries to get the kids wet after he got soaked on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 6, 2022. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle