Kit cash looks to develop into a more widely used system

Katy Donati, In-Depth Editor

Cash out.

Kit cash gives students an opportunity to earn fast cash while studying that can be used at the new Wildkit store in N310.

The PBIS, or Positive Behavior Prevention and Support, committee began distributing Kit cash 5-6 years ago as an incentive to encourage and inspire positive behaviors at ETHS.

The current system stands as follows, along with receiving cash at Wildkit Academy each staff member is also given a load of Kitcash at the beginning of the month. If that staff member sees positive activity in the halls, lunchroom, classroom or anywhere throughout the school they can reward the student or students involved with Kit cash. The cash can be used at the new Wildkit spirit store instead of cash. But this may not always be the case.

“I have been at ETHS two years now and have never seen a teacher hand out Kit cash,” junior Isaiah Ricketts says. “I have gotten Kit cash from sessions at Wildkit academy but never directly from a teacher.”

Last year, the student subcommittee that branches off the PBIS committee worked hard to revamp and rebrand kitcash. 2016 graduate Dianara Delgado and current senior Michael Henry aimed to remarket cash and tediously distributed cash to every teacher along with reminders and suggestions and examples for distribution.

“Last year we made a lot of changes to the Kit cash system, from the way it is distributed to the awareness of it,” Michael says. Michael is one of the key members of the subcommittee working to promote Wildkit pride. He recently worked to create the new hashtag, #wildkit way.

“As a senior this is my last chance to make my mark and a legacy behind for others to take on and change for the better,” adds Michael.

Boosting school unity and amping up the use of Kit cash and other systems that promote school unity and pride is one way the subcommittee members will leave its mark.

“Kit cash was birthed through PBIS but nobody was its parent,” Student Activities Director Nicole Boyd says. “Now that we have established who the parents are, members of the PBIS subcommittee, they will have to do the work of the follow through.”

The subcommittee also worked closely with the Algebra in Entrepreneurship class at ETHS to establish pricing and discounts for the new Wildkit store. The cash is valued at a one to one dollar ratio. But the store hasn’t been the only thing considered for Kit cash use.

“We have had the discussion of the possibility of using the cash for entrance to football games, basketball games, and offsetting the price of some of the schools dances,” Ms. Boyd says. “I believe we have done it in the past, but it is something that we keep revisiting.”

The problem with giving these kinds of discounts is the possibility of a loss of money due to the immense amount of Kit cash in circulation.

“If you think about it, if you go to each session of each Wildkit academy throughout the course of the year that is a total of about 32 dollars in Kit cash,” Ms. Boyd says. “By the end of the year you will have enough for a new tee shirt or sweatshirt.”

While the distribution and use of Kit cash is still not heavily enforced it continues to grow and transform into an easier, more well-run and handled system that will ultimately be a key to a student’s success.