With these funds I will... reward my students for their achievements.

Last year I worked with the same group of students during their 9th grade year, it was a very hectic year with behavior and getting to know each one of them, academically it has also being a challenge because most of my students with the exception of a handful of them are far below grade level in reading and math. Yet, I spent the entire year last year building/establishing relationships with them and gaining their trust.

As a Resource Specialist Teacher many times is hard for students to gain your trust and want to receive services from you-given that Special Education Program is looked upon negatively. Yet, I was able to establish those relationships with my students and now they are mostly motivated and their behavior has improved greatly. Academically we are still working hard to get them passing all of their classes, yet it is very challenging. Working with students in low income communities can be very overwhelming, yet also very rewarding. Students come daily with a new story about things that they encounter on a daily basis, problems and struggles that go on with their families. Yet, I am very proud to say that my students feel very comfortable sharing their struggles with me and seek my advice for different things. Furthermore, I have been able to motivate them and encourage them-which has helped most of them be more confident in their academic skills and in general personal (social skills). 

This year, a handful of the students with whom it was harder to get them to behave well and focus on academics last year are now trying out for the Football Team and some are interested in joining Basketball and Soccer. Overall, they are all excited to be involve in some way and I feel very proud of them. They are trying to keep up with their grades and are trying really hard to behave well. They are sweet, hyper, could drive me crazy sometimes, but very respectful towards me and willing to try their best to perform better than last year. 

Given that they have transition into this phase of wanting to join sports and perform better academically, I want to recognize their efforts and have money available to reward them. I have very individual plans on how I want to reward each of them, but I am estimating to spend approximately $30 - $33 per student throughout the semester. 

Rewards such as:

Dinner

Gift Cards

Trip/Tickets (specific events)

Other 

I appreciate your time in reading this and your contributions! 

Back Up Plan