By Janine DavisRecord Staff WriterOfficials at Rebecca Boone Elementary School plan to open a school store early next year that will help meet the needs of students and families for basic clothing and other items. Officials hope the store will motivate students to comply with the district’s school-wide positive behavioral support program, as well as spark parent involvement with the school.During the October R-III School District Board of Education meeting, Rebecca Boone Elementary Principal Dr. Jill Schowe presented plans for the store, which she said will open in January, if all goes according to schedule. Schowe said the school is working with the WISE Foundation — a 501 (c) (3) organization that helps the district — to get the store up and running.“The WISE Foundation has graciously given us a $200 start-up grant,” Schowe told the board. “We have yet to come up with a name for the store, but we’re working on it.”Modeled onSpringfield ProgramSchowe said the idea for the store is modeled on a program at Weller Elementary School in Springfield, Mo., a Title I high-poverty school. She told the board that she and R-III District Superintendent Dr. Greg Klinginsmith traveled to Springfield earlier in the month to see the store program up close.“It was really spectacular to see,” Schowe reported.Weller’s “Cents of Pride” store — now in its fourth year — is inside the school, and features items such as grooming products, shoes and socks, gently used clothing, books, toys and bigger items like bikes and laptops. Many items are donated.“Students at Weller can earn up to $10 a week through positive behavior and shop every other week,” said Schowe. “This year, they’ve added a parent volunteer component, so that every time a parent volunteers at the school they can earn “bucks” which they can spend in the parent department of the store.”Parent items include gas cards, laundry detergent and donated furnishings for the home, which the Weller program notes are not typically covered by the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).On its webpage, leaders of the Weller “Cents of Pride” store program note that “the overriding goal is to get parents inside the building, which signals support for the child and the value placed on education.”

Rebecca Boone Elementary School.

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