Bosque Farms Elementary teacher awarded grant for innovative “class store”

BOSQUE FARMS — Teacher Emily Garcia’s second-grade students at Bosque Farms Elementary School are learning the value of a dollar, literally, through an innovative classroom incentive program that doubles as a hands-on financial literacy course.

Garcia was one of 11 teachers in New Mexico who were awarded classroom funding from the enrichEd Classroom Grant program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Eagle Credit Union and its ARNIA Foundation.

She was awarded $500 for her “class store.”

Eleven teachers throughout the state were awarded a total of $20,000 in classroom funding to help create effective learning environments for children.

Individual grants ranged between $500 and $2,500 per classroom and are meant to offset the challenges schools face, like funding, resources and innovation.

The in-classroom program run by Garcia, who is in her fourth year at the school, said with the class store model, students earn “money” throughout the week for positive behavior, such as arriving on time, quietly working, and lining up correctly.

Kids earn a penny just for being present and a quarter for a full week without any behavioral redirection tally marks. The accumulated class currency can then be used to purchase prizes and privileges from the store.

“It’s a positive reward system, and I also love it because it doubles as a financial literacy program,” Garcia explained. “Money and just understanding the value of money is a big standard for second grade.”

Students are responsible for counting their own money and making change, with the ultimate goal of taking on the role of cashier during the last semester. This hands-on approach is designed to counter the abstract nature of money in an increasingly cashless society.

“I feel like having that concrete example of, you know, just working with the money hands-on,” she said. “It absolutely helps solidify it in their minds and what to do with it, you know, with those coins, and it’s not, like, ‘My mom swipes a credit card and we get our food.’”

Garcia, who is teaching her son in the classroom this year, said she’s seen the effect of the program through his eyes.

“When he gets to take his dollar to the store and pick out what he wants, he goes up to the cash register and counts out how much change he needs,” she said. “And, that’s his car. It’s not just ‘something mom bought for me.’ No, he worked for it. He earned it. So even at this age, you know, you can teach that — the value of money and appreciation for earning it.”

While the store was initially funded by the teacher and parents, the money from the enrichEd Classroom Grant has allowed her to purchase more enticing, higher-value rewards, including two Razor scooters, each valued at $5 in class money. These larger prizes encourage long-term saving and strategic thinking, she said.

The program’s impact goes beyond mathematics and economics, Garcia said, noting that one of the most rewarding aspects is witnessing acts of generosity among the students, where they willingly donate their hard-earned money to a classmate who is a few cents short of a desired item.

“That is one of the biggest rewards for me is watching them help each other out,” Garcia said.

This emphasis on real-world concepts such as earning, saving and giving, according to the teacher, teaches valuable life skills and “appreciation for what, you know, they’re working hard to earn.”