District Secretary Rhonda Martin watches as Mattie Steinmetz sorts through the items in the treasure box for which he can redeem his Good Deed Pennies from his day at school. The Good Deed Penny program is used to reward positive actions and successes by elementary students at Guernsey-Sunrise and has been a highly successful program.

At Guernsey-Sunrise Elementary, there’s no mistaking when school has been dismissed. Because as soon as they can get there, a steady stream of little people clutching backpacks is headed straight past District Secretary Rhonda Martin’s desk to the gumball machine and goody boxes where they can redeem coins aptly called “Good Deed Pennies.”

With some supervision, and maybe even a little help cranking the handle on a good-sized gumball dispenser, Mrs. Martin oversees the transactions, collecting the pennies that are turned in for any one of a number of treasures varying from plastic bracelets to small packs of collectible cards for sports and action heroes, candies or the gumballs.

The pennies, which are patterned after a genuine penny, have Lincoln’s head on one side and the words “Good Deed Penny” on the reverse.

It’s a simple idea but highly motivational, put into place when Bruce Heimbuck was the Superintendent at Guernsey-Sunrise. Martin says the program has been a big success that the kids embrace, rewarding positive behavior.

Good Deed Pennies are awarded every day, in every class to any student who demonstrates some kind of positive action. The range is wide--from good behavior on the playground to academic achievements such as improvements on test scores in class. Martin says on some days, an entire class may be rewarded for something they’ve done.

After school, the awardees swarm the office area where they swap out for items of their choosing.

A trip to the office may be somewhat foreboding in other schools but at Guernsey-Sunrise it can be a very rewarding experience--all you have to do is use some “Good Cents.”