If class is in session, Heidi Walker is present and ready to learn. From the day she started kindergarten at Hood Avenue Elementary through graduation at Fayette County High, Heidi went 13 years without missing a single day of school.

“I have really been blessed with good health. On the rare occasion that I became ill, it was always on a Friday, so I had the weekend to rest and recuperate,” said Heidi. “On the days when I did not feel like going to school, I just told myself, ‘You’re too close to give up now, and this will all be worth it in the end!’”

Heidi started kindergarten at Hood Avenue Elementary, then went Fayetteville Intermediate before they combined into Fayetteville Elementary, and she was onto Bennett’s Mill Middle before becoming a Fayette County High Tiger.

She managed to complete all 13 years with perfect attendance, achieving a goal she set many years ago.

“When Heidi was six years old, she saw on the news where a young man received a free car for having perfect attendance. Heidi said she was going to have perfect attendance, so she could ‘win a free car, too,’” said her mother, Stephany. “We are very proud of her!”

Now that she’s graduated, Heidi will attend the Georgia Military College campus in Fayetteville before moving on to Columbus State University, where she wants to major in Criminal Justice and become a special effects makeup artist in the television and film industry. Don’t expect her to miss any college classes either!