It may seem like a small thing, but it could have become a big thing. So Crystal Wakefield was thankful when the Truancy Intervention Project in Atlanta called last fall. It wanted to know why her son, Deaveyon Bennett, then a kindergartener at Hamilton E. Holmes Elementary in East Point, was arriving late to school every day.

He was supposed to be in by 7:45 a.m. but habitually showed up 15 minutes late. If the tardiness continued, a juvenile court date loomed. What project volunteers told Wakefield fixed the problem: She thought class began at 8 a.m. and that her son was arriving on time. Newly informed, Wakefield got Deaveyon to school on time, all the time.

John Spink/jspink@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

A'nya Bennett, 4, brother Deaveyon Bennett, 6, and other kids get new backpacks stuffed with school supplies during a back-to-school event Friday at Zoo Atlanta.

John Spink/jspink@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

The Truancy Intervention Project's Patti Gorham (left) speaks with Cherry Hambrick, 16, who will be a junior at Booker T. Washington High School.

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Now, she said, "He's never tardy, and he's a straight-A student."

Wakefield and Deaveyon were among the schoolchildren and parents who celebrated their successes at Friday's annual Truancy Intervention Project Back to School event at Zoo Atlanta. Besides a free day at the zoo, the children received a backpack full of school supplies for the new year, which begins for them Monday.

The project's executive director, Jessica Pennington, said the outing offered children in the program a double benefit.

"Many of our families have never been to the zoo, and that's a shame because it's such a happy place," Pennington said. "This gives them some incentive [to stay in school and in the program] and at the same time helps them take care of some practical needs."

The project, in its 17th year, works through schools in Atlanta and Fulton County to help find out why students are tardy or absent, then tries to get them back in class. More than 4,300 children and their families have been served with legal help and counseling. The project has a small full-time staff, relying heavily on volunteers to provide services.

Pennington said the project attempts to reach out to children and their families as early as possible in order to keep a child from missing too much school or from dropping out completely. While some interventions, such as Wakefield's, are relatively quick successes, others are made more difficult by deep-rooted social problems in a child's family.

Pennington said the project's work has grown steadily, but she knows there's no end in sight.

"There is," she said, "such a tremendous need."