Pa$$ing the Buck
[Ka-ching]
“Please review your Acton wallet and pay any outstanding tickets with your Owl bucks.” [shuffle…shuffle..sulk..thrill]
“Yes! I have $3 bucks, I can pay for Fun-Friday!”
What are Owl bucks and how does our Acton money system work? It’s easy, it’s just like the real world. When you break the law (studio and work period laws) you get a warning and if you break the law again, a ticket. If you can’t pay your fine, community service. Sometimes even, we hold donations where learners share why they are most deserving. What can you use your Owl bucks towards? $3 Fun Friday activity participation, $1 getting back personal items, extra snacks and more!
Learners are learning accountability, counting, grit, work ethic, risk, reward, ownership, and pride in their work and community. A natural next question is who is doing the policing? Like everything we do at Acton, our job as adults is to model, equip learners, and then see what happens. Sometimes they fail and sometimes they fly! Our Guides started the session with their Aviator shades, pads of paper tickets and serious police hats. After a solid week of Guide Police, it was the learners turn. Learner Police mean business and truly hold one another accountable, the ticket prices are a bit steep too! Just like Guides have passed the buck to Learner Police we’ve been practicing passing responsibilities to learners in a variety of ways. Learners are starting to do laundry on their own “my Mom and Dad never let me do it at home, but I can here!” Learners are baking bread almost 100% (minus the oven) and now have begun to take over the responsibility of greeting friends in the morning at drop off.
Naturally, learners are looking for Owl buck earning opportunities, jobs! So, we’ve been placing ads “Now Hiring” around the studio with job descriptions, wage rates, and application sign ups. Our first interviews were held for the position of Morning Greeter where learners demonstrated their handshakes and shared their skills of responsibility. The position of Morning Greeter is a steady week long job with $1 a day paycheck. It requires early hours but these Owls are up for the job!