Students pay for groceries with good deeds

Linda Tutt High School in Sanger, Texas, north of Dallas, launched an on-campus grocery store in November so students could buy nescessities including toilet paper, meat and basic food items. They pay for their purchases by earning points from doing good deeds. There are 2,750 students in the district. Forty-three percent are considered economically disadvantaged, and 3.6 percent are considered homeless. The high school partnered with First Refuge Ministries, Texas Health Resources and the grocery store Albertsons to open the store, which is completely run by students.

Students in the entire school district can buy whatever they need using a number of points, initially set depending on the size of their family. After that, students can earn more points for outstanding performance in school, doing good deeds in school, or completing jobs around school like helping in the library or mentoring elementary school students.