 "Photo: Katherine Sanchez")
 "Photo: Katherine Sanchez")
It's a place no teen wants to be: surrounded by the unforgiving walls of a courtroom. But it's a place Wagner High School sophomore Zack Harriss knows well.
After skipping class repeatedly, he found himself standing in front of Bexar County Justice of the Peace Linda Penn, who this past school year ordered Harriss and 52 other students into a program called Attendance Improvement Management. The students attended schools in the Judson and San Antonio school districts.
Under Penn's order, Harriss had to add a new accessory to his wardrobe and a step to his morning routine.
Each day, the 16-year-old clipped a GPS tracking device to his belt and pushed a button on the tracker four times throughout the day: when he got on the bus, once he arrived at school, again after school and at his daily curfew of 9 p.m.
"I was pretty angry about doing the program," Harriss said June 22 at the first AIM commencement ceremony in Penn's JP Precinct 4 court.
Attendance Improvement Management is a Dallas-based program that targets teens who find themselves in court because of too many unexcused absences.
"Too many students were standing before me with absences," Penn said.
For Travis Knox, CEO of AIM, addressing the issue of truancy is more than a business.
"Everyone has their passion and for me it's helping troubled kids," Knox said.
So he and AIM co-founder Paul Pottinger developed a program that pairs GPS technology with old-fashioned mentoring and positive reinforcement. Penn is the only justice of the peace in Bexar County to use GPS tracking for her truancy cases.
For six weeks, students carry a handheld device that tells officials where they are every five minutes. Students in the program receive phone calls from AIM coaches every day. Harriss remembers his first phone call from Knox.
"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," he said, adding that it was nice to have someone he could contact at any time.
Knox said the reaction among teens carrying GPS tracking devices is generally mixed.
"I refused," said Kelley Harriss, Zack's mother. "I was not going to pay $400 for something he might lose."
Knox assures parents that only 20 percent of the program is tracking and the remaining 80 percent is coaching and mentoring.
"After the first week, they (the family) realize we're here to help," Knox said.
Kelley Harriss came to like the program so much she wants Zach to continue with it in the next school year.
"I wanted to send Judge Penn an e-mail telling her I was sorry," she said.
Statistics show the program is effective.
"We saw a 98 percent increase in attendance from 70 students at Judson and SAISD," Penn said.
Aside from the improvement in attendance, Penn said many also have shown positive growth in their lives.
"They became interested in themselves and furthering their education," Penn said.
Knox said next school year, the program will expand to more cities, including Los Angeles and Houston.
The hope, Knox said, is that more teens like Zack Harriss will turn around.
"He dealt with it wonderfully," Kelley Harriss said of her son. "He became more grown up and more mature."
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