HOMEWORK PAYS OFF AT THE SCHOOL STORE: GOOD BEHAVIOR EARNS STUDENTS SHOPPING 'MONEY'

Students at Blanchard Elementary School took to the shopping aisles Tuesday in the first day of a week-long shopping spree financed by their good behavior and school work.

Volunteers filled the school hallways with merchandise to form a makeshift "store" where students could purchase gifts donated by school staff and local businesses and organizations for family members. Teachers and other staff manned checkout counters and wrapping stations to ensure the gifts were safely and decoratively packaged and so the presents could remain a surprise until Christmas Day.

To pay for the gifts, students used special "holiday dollars" they have earned since Thanksgiving whenever teachers caught them doing good deeds or other positive activities at school. The money was kept in special wallets until this week, when students were allowed to visit the stores and trade their cash for gifts.

"I was working hard trying to get as much as I could so I could buy gifts for my grandma and my dad," said Justin Thorn, 12, who didn't deliberate long over how to spend the $39 he had earned. "I think it's good because kids can't really earn that much money, and this is a way for them to get gifts for their family."

Sixth-grader Michael Edwards, 11, used the $24 he earned to buy gifts for his mother and sister. He planned to hide the gifts "somewhere I know they won't look" until Christmas Day.

"They give me stuff, so I'm giving them something back," said Edwards.

The store is sponsored annually at Blanchard and Jefferson schools by Caring Communities, an interagency organization that works within the school setting to provide social workers, counseling and other services families may need to help student achievement.

The main objective of the store is to teach students the meaning of giving, but the incentive program also helps improve student behavior during one of the rowdiest times of year, said Kay Azuma, Blanchard school site coordinator for Caring Communities.

"It helps to improve behavior and academics during the hectic season between Thanksgiving and Christmas," Azuma said. "In the past, our discipline referrals have gone down between 20 and 30 percent."

Each student must return their remaining cash after they complete their shopping at the store for a chance to win prizes in a special drawing next week. The incentive guarantees teachers additional good conduct from students. It also means another opportunity to positively affect a student, Azuma said.

"This is one of the few programs that Caring Communities sponsors that touches every student and every family in the school," she said. "Teachers usually make sure every student is able to buy gifts, and it really helps us to teach the children about the spirit of giving."

Sixth grade teachers Kay Riek and Jennifer Brothers said they also see other benefits to the holiday store program. By creating shopping lists and budgets, students develop critical thinking, math and decision-making skills, they said.

"The reason I like it so much is it's applicable from the first grade to the sixth grade," said Riek. "It's great because they earn that gift and they have a big sense of pride when they come in with their gift-wrapped present."