L.I.F.E. Bucks- Reinforcing positive work-related behaviors and job skills

School:: Barron Collier High
Subject:: Special Needs Students
Teacher:: Gina Manville DeJager
Students Impacted:: 11
Grade:: 12
Date:: August 18, 2024

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

A Champion For Learning - $1,818.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 12

Thanks to the generous support provided by this grant, twelve students in the Learning Independent Functional Employment (L.I.F.E.) Program experienced meaningful growth in both their personal and professional development. The funding was used to create an incentive-based reward system—“L.I.F.E. Bucks”—which recognized and reinforced positive work-related behaviors and successful task completion during their non-paid internship.

These rewards were more than just tokens; they were powerful motivators that helped students internalize essential job skills. With the potential of earning “L.I.F.E. Bucks” daily, students learned the value of:

Following supervisor’s instructions
Seeking clarification when needed
Maintaining professional appearance and hygiene
Completing tasks efficiently
Demonstrating responsibility through communication about absences or tardiness

At the end of each non-paid internship semester, students exchanged their earned “L.I.F.E. Bucks” for gift cards, which they used during supervised shopping trips. These outings were not only a celebration of their hard work but also an extension of their learning—offering real-world practice in budgeting, decision-making, and social interaction.

The internships took place at Royal Poinciana Golf Club, where students rotated through thirteen training departments including culinary, golf, tennis, floral, groundskeeping, and human resources. This immersive, hands-on experience gave them a unique opportunity to explore various career paths while building confidence and independence.

The grant’s impact was deeply felt. It transformed routine training into a rewarding journey, where students with learning challenges were empowered to thrive in a real-world work environment. The incentive system helped them connect effort with reward, laying a strong foundation for future employment success.

As the students prepare for their second shopping trip on May 27th, they do so with a sense of pride and accomplishment—knowing that their hard work, dedication, and growth have been recognized and celebrated. We are forever grateful to our donors for making this experience possible for our interns. You made a huge impact in their motivation and growth.

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Retail Training

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Culinary Training

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Purchasing Department

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Green and Grounds Training

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LIFE Bucks Reward Shopping

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LIFE Bucks Gift Cards for Hard Work

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LIFE Bucks Using Calculator

Original Grant Overview

Goal

The Learning Independent Functional Employment (L.I.F.E.) program's employment training model is to provide students (18-22 years old) with learning challenges, authentic, hands-on supportive work experiences in a community-based setting. The goal of using "L.I.F.E. Bucks" is to reward positive work-related behaviors and completed job tasks in a non-paid internship, while obtaining invaluable job skills at Royal Poinciana Golf Club.

What will be done with my students

The interns will train in multiple departments at a private golf course, including restaurants (front of the house/back of the house), purchasing, human resources, green and grounds (landscaping), floral, tennis shop, golf shop/cart barn/driving range, men’s locker room, and women’s locker room. Each day when interns arrive on time, in uniform, demonstrate a positive attitude and successfully complete their assigned tasks, they will earn a “L.I.F.E. Buck”. An important emphasis of the L.I.F.E. program is to assist students in developing the job skills needed to be an asset to any business. Since this is an unpaid structured work experience, students are rewarded for their hard work with “L.I.F.E. Bucks”. The "L.I.F.E. Bucks" will help reinforce and motivate interns throughout their training. The "L.I.F.E. Bucks" will be exchanged for gift cards to be used on class shopping trips in December and May.

Benefits to my students

The "L.I.F.E. Bucks" positive behavior incentive system will benefit the interns as they gain numerous job training experiences by reinforcing positive work-related behaviors. By rewarding these consistent and exceptional skills it will increase their likelihood of obtaining and maintaining future employment. On biannual shopping trips, interns will have the opportunity to make choices in the community, be responsible, and practice functional math skills within the community. The interns will also benefit by developing confidence, independence, social and communication skills, teamwork, in addition to effective employability skills to help them become productive, valued, and respected citizens.

Budget Narrative

Students have the ability to earn one "L.I.F.E. Buck" per work day to reinforce positive work-related behaviors and successfully completed job tasks. Workdays follow the Collier County Public School calendar. The "L.I.F.E. Bucks" are exchanged at the end of each semester for a gift card to be spent independently on a class Curriculum Based Instruction trip.
1st semester= 74 eligible work days x 11 students=$814
2nd semester= 91 eligible work days X 11 students= $1004

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	1st semester= 74 eligible work days x 11 students	$814.00
2	2nd semester= 91 eligible work days X 11 students	$1,004.00
	Total:	$1,818.00

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L.I.F.E. Bucks- Reinforcing positive work-related behaviors and job skills

Investor

Impact to My Classroom

Original Grant Overview

Goal

Category

What will be done with my students

Benefits to my students

Budget Narrative

Items

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