Fifth Ward Elementary School in Reserve has received $4,000 to promote financial literacy after placing first in Capital One’s Creative+Curriculum+Challenge.
Jasmin Porter, an eighth-grade reading/ELA teacher who wrote
the grant, said the money will
be used to support Fifth Ward’s
new Panther Pride Pays PBIS initiative.
Through this initiative, students will receive weekly “paychecks.” Money earned can be used to shop at the P.A.W.S., or Panthers Are Wealthy Students, Merit Market, where students can purchase anything from school supplies to key chains.
Paychecks are affected by student behavior and performance throughout the school day. Paychecks will be deposited at the student-run FWE P.A.W.S. Bank. The “bankers” are FWE Student Council members who will also track student “credit scores” or paycheck averages each month.
These averages determine whether the students can attend the monthly PBIS reward activity.
The grant money will be used as start-up capital for the P.A.W.S. Merit Market. The money will also be used to fund monthly PBIS activities for the students.
“I’ve always believed that effective discipline leads to self-discipline,” Porter said. “I hope this leads to the kind of self-discipline that our students can use throughout school and into their lives.”
Each year, Capital One encourages educators in Louisiana to submit grant proposals for creative ways to incorporate financial literacy into the classroom. Nine grants are awarded, three each at the elementary, middle and high-school levels. Third place is $500, second place receives $2,500, and first place is awarded $4,000.