With these funds my students will be customers in KIPP Delta Elemntary Literacy Academy's very first School Store!

KIPP Delta Elementary Literacy Academy currently uses the paycheck system, where students are given imaginary dollars for school attendance and good behavior. Good behavior is measured by students' display of KIPP's character traits, which are zest, grit, optimism, curiosity, self-control, social intelligence, and gratitude. Each week the imaginary dollars are added up and they comprise the student's paycheck for the week. While the vast majority of my students are growing up facing rural poverty with the odds stacked against them, studies show that teachers who foster the aforementioned character traits along with a rigorous academic curriculum prepare their students for greater success in college and in life. http://www.kipp.org/our-approach/character

Although my students are motivated by simply receiving their paycheck at present, I feel that they could benefit further if a school store existed. I would use the funds to purchase items for the store like pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, calculators, books, art supplies, puzzles and brain teasers, science experiments, art supplies, P.E. equipment, white boards, rulers, and other student-friendly school supplies that could be purchased with the students' paychecks. Additionally, I would use funding to purchase high ticket items for the school store, like special trips with teachers to museums, botanical gardens, historical monuments, plays, exhibits, art galleries, and other local educational offerings.

My students would be involved in each step of the school store operation, from coming up with advertising, to stocking shelves and designing displays, to using their creative and persuasive writing skills to write descriptions for store items, to working the cash register and checking the books. The school store would help students interact with math in a hands-on, practical way, it would provide them with exposure to budgeting, prioritizing when spending, and saving, and it would also recognize and reward them for the tremendous amount of effort they put into their schoolwork and behavior.

Please help us cut the ribbon and open KIPP Delta Elementary Literacy Academy's School Store soon!

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