CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County Schools is handing out $25 gift cards to residents who get vaccinated throughout the month.
It's part of an effort to raise the vaccination rate in the county, which was at only 45% at the start of Feb.
Meanwhile, schools in Clayton County remain on high alert.
While some districts like Fulton and Cobb are loosening COVID-19 rules, like making masks optional, Clayton isn't quite ready to scale back.
"The mandates and all of that are just the same as they were the very first day of school," said Judah Whaley, a Clayton County 8th grader.
11Alive has been checking in with Whaley every few weeks since the beginning of the school year as a part of The Learning Curve series.
"They still take a temperature before you walk into the school building," he explained. "There's a lot of sanitizing stations. Teachers always have masks at the ready if you don't have a mask for some reason."
The district did implement a “Test to Stay” program this week that allows asymptomatic students and staff who were exposed to COVID-19 to still come to school, as long as they get a negative test on both the third and fifth days after the exposure.
Previously, anyone potentially exposed had to quarantine at home.
Whaley, 14, is still rolling with the punches.
“I'm just focusing on, you know, making good grades," he said.
Whaley recently entered and won an MLK day essay contest through the Henry County NAACP. He wrote in part about his experience participating in The Learning Curve series on 11Alive.
"The most important part of this series of interviews is I was able to give my perspective of being vaccinated and staying safe," Whaley wrote. "I, a teenage Black male, felt proud representing my community. In low income neighborhoods and in some Black communities as well, this representation is important.”
Whaley is putting the $200 prize toward his education, as he continues to power through the unknown.
"I think I’ve grown a lot," he said.