Box Tops for Education

For the past 4 years at my school, my 2nd grade students and I have created a real-world business to help increase our Box Tops Collection. Our company is run exactly like a real bank. We have students who go out and model custumer service to every classroom and office providing easy collection and deposits for their Box Tops. After all classroom Box Tops are collected, the classroom is set up like a bank with a Pres., VP, Tellers, and Computer Data Managers. My 2nd graders have to calculate each classroom's bag of Box Tops, complete a deposit slip listing How many BT's (#) and How Much BT's ($) they have. They walk through our bank like a real world customer, receive a pencil (no candy lollipops for healthy living), and pratice how to run a bank and begin saving their own monies. Computer Data Managers must keep track on an Excel spreadsheet each teachers' totals to match the super-sized bulletin board spreadsheet. Each month the class that has the most BT's per grade level gets bragging rights, teacher gets a "dress down pass", principal reads to the class, and we announce their names over the intercom. This year I have been fortunate to find donations from local businesses to give away a certificate or product to the "Box Top Teacher of the Month". It is a huge Service Learning project where students experience real-world banking, computer skills, customer service, service announcements, and students choose what the money is spent on based on our school's needs.

It takes time to set up, but WOW when 7 year olds can understand cross-curriculum objectives, skip counting, money, banking, college/job preparation, and computer skills......that is learning!