Tulsa Elementary School Rewards Good Behavior, Encourages Reading Using Book Vending Machine

A new kind of vending machine has made its way to one elementary school in Tulsa.

It's trading in candy bars for books.

When you put a coin in this vending machine, something good comes out.

From Goosebumps to Harry Potter, kids at Lindbergh Elementary have their choice of new books to keep.

Principal James Issacs says the payment is not money--this machine only takes good behavior points.

"Anything in the classroom. Giving good effort, showing respect, being kind,” said Principal Issacs. “We want to give them points, and then we allow them to use those points to purchase a lot of things. One of those being the books."

Sophia Arizola is in the fifth grade and says the opportunity to earn points has made her more confident in the classroom.

"I try my best and answer a lot of questions and if I do good, I get a point,” she said. “So if I answer, I try to remember stuff so I can get a point, and I like it because I like answering questions, and I like being a leader."

With TPS focusing on raising reading scores this year, Principal Issacs thought the vending machine was one way to accomplish this goal within his school.

"Kids that read more are going to do better at reading,” he said. “We have the resources here, but this right here is about getting kids resources at home. We want to reward them while building up those libraries at home."

The kids are not only improving their reading skills, but they are also learning about math.

"Just teaching them how to budget those points out,” Principal Issacs said. “They’ve got to have 100 points to get a token, so when they look and see they have 75 points, I have to earn more points."

Earning more points leads to better behavior and, in this case, better readers.

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