Students Receive Help with Grades, Gain Skills & Confidence Along the Way

Business success is its own reward in many ways. However, the ability to leverage your success as a way to help others is one of the greatest rewards imaginable.

I’ve been fortunate enough to find a very unique and effective way to give back to the local community by serving as executive director of the non-profit program Get Paid for Grades.

At the culmination of each spring semester, I reflect on the services our organization provides and the impact we’ve had on the youngest members of society.

Young People: An Investment Worth Making

We all have the power to impact the world around us, and some would say we have a responsibility to give back to society. I believe that one of the best ways to do that is by investing in the youngest members of our community.

Investing in youth yields an impressive ROI. After all, children and young adults are the people who we are trusting with our future; therefore, giving those young people the tools to achieve as much as possible will mean a brighter tomorrow for everyone.

I volunteered as a tutor after first moving to Florida several years ago. I saw first-hand how much kids were able to accomplish when given additional assistance and individual attention.

This is what compelled me to create Get Paid for Grades.

Get Paid for Grades: The Rundown

The primary goal of Get Paid for Grades is to promote literacy and build self-confidence in order to prepare students for the next phase of their lives.

The program works alongside the Pinellas Education Foundation to select underperforming students and provide them with additional tutoring assistance. High school students who advance their reading ability, improve their overall grades, and complete a 12-part course on life skills receive a $500 reward. Elementary students are recognized for their hard work and increased reading abilities.

The financial award functions as an initial incentive. However, participants’ growing self-confidence as they see themselves improving over the course of the semester eventually propels students to view success as its own reward.

Get Paid for Grades also rewards the tutors who help students on their path to success, as well as the schools who participate in the program.

A Need for Programs Like Get Paid for Grades

Get Paid for Grades was structured in a way that allocates resources to areas where they’re needed most.

More than one million students drop-out of school each year in the US, and that eventually translates to a massive impact on our country’s economic prospects. The lifetime lost tax revenue resulting from high school dropouts who are under-employed or unemployed comes to a total of $944 billion. In addition, the cost to society in terms of higher crime rates and public benefits is estimated at $24 billion annually.

It’s important to note that there is a correlation between reading ability and graduation rates. Children who do not read proficiently by fourth grade are four times more likely to leave school without graduating. Unfortunately, only about one-third of American fourth graders read at grade level.

Given that correlation, as well as the immense societal costs of individuals who fail to graduate, we can see that investments in children’s reading ability are an investment in our future. By helping kids improve their reading ability now, we build a happier, more prosperous society tomorrow.

Just the Beginning

I really wanted to expand on the idea of individualized, targeted attention in order to maximize our efforts, and that desire is still the guiding principle behind Get Paid for Grades.

I’m incredibly proud of the students who participated in the program this semester. At Clearwater High School, we saw an overall success rate of 83% among all of the program’s participants.

“It’s actually kinda fun to work with something new that you have never tried before…it challenged me to do better.” —Diavvio, GPFG Participant

“I would recommend other students take part in the program. It’s a very helpful way to plan your future, which is something you’re not taught in school.”—Michael, GPFG Participant

I’m also proud of how much the Get Paid for Grades has grown in just three years’ time. During our first semester, back in 2013, only three participants completed the program. This past semester though, we helped 27 Pinellas County students boost their grades, as well as their confidence level.

However, Get Paid for Grades is still just in its early stages.

Hopefully with assistance from more business and private partners, we will expand this program to other schools throughout the state of Florida. Our eventual goal is to make Get Paid for Grades a nationwide—and even international—program. In order to make that dream a reality though, we need help!

Getting Involved

catchafire-logoLooking for an opportunity to help people while gaining work experience?

Sites like Catchafire can help link professionals with the desire to do good to nonprofits in need of their services.

If you haven’t already, I would strongly encourage you to get involved with a local non-profit.

Our society needs talented people with the desire to help. We especially need those who have something unique to bring to the table, such as specialized skills, influential business connections, or the financial resources to help make the world a better place.

If you’re looking for your own way to make a difference in your community, consider any one of the following opportunities:

  • Identify a Need: First things first—figure out your community’s needs and what you can do about them.
  • Engage in Skills-Based Volunteering: Do you have any specialized skills? Are you a programmer? A web designer? A lawyer? A teacher? A nurse? Put your skills to work for a good cause!
  • Invite Others: Getting yourself involved is half of the battle. Next, you need to expand the base of people involved in the cause. Invite others to join you in making a difference.
  • Find Backers for Nonprofit Projects: Maybe you don’t have the resources to fund an entire project yourself, but you’re really good at networking. You can help by connecting nonprofit efforts to the people with the necessary funds.
  • Sponsor Community Events: What better way to show that a business cares about the community they call home than sponsoring local events right in their own backyard!

If you’re interested in getting involved with Get Paid for Grades, I’d love to hear from you. Or, give any combination of the above options a shot—no matter what you do in the end, just get involved! It doesn’t take much to leave a positive impact, and you never know how much the smallest contributions can mean in the long run.