Will the favored Auburn Tigers or Duke Blue Devils claim the NCAA men’s basketball title, or could the 1-26 Mississippi Valley team defy the odds to win the Southwest Athletic Conference and earn a bid to the tournament? On the women’s side, will Texas manage to fend off perennial powerhouses UConn and South Carolina?

Closer to home, the 715 students at Welby Elementary are keeping a watchful eye on March Madness—though in their own way.

Within the walls of the 46-year-old school, a March Madness tournament is underway, and the students are eagerly following the competition to see if the top-seeded fifth-graders will emerge victorious.

“It’s an attendance tournament and we’ve seeded grades by their attendance through February, so fifth grade, which has the best attendance, gets a bye for the first round,” Principal Aaron Ichimura said, who adapted the idea from a Murray school to use at his school. “We will see how grades match up with their attendance with the goal to improve our overall attendance.”

In early March, Ichimura was sharing the details of the tournament with each grade.

“Kids are talking about it with some excitement because they are familiar with this bracket process. The ultimate goal of the championship is the winning grade will get to play lightning against me, the assistant principal and some teachers and staff. This way, we can use baskets on both ends of the floor so more students can play than if we just scrimmaged,” he said, adding that other grades can cheer for the players.

Ichimura, who admits basketball isn’t his strength, isn’t expecting to come out on top.

“The beauty of working in an elementary is the kids are a fan no matter what you do, as long as you’re willing to participate and try your best,” he said.

Students can regularly track the progress of their grade by checking updates posted outside the school cafeteria, where the monthly grade-level attendance certificates from earlier this school year are displayed.

“Our goal, really, is to have all students win and have better attendance in March than previous months,” Ichimura said. “We can’t help students and expect them to show gains and improvements in their learning unless they’re here for the instruction. So we’re encouraging them to be here, make the school safe and comfortable and the climate more welcoming, so that they want to be in school.” λ