Graduation season is here, and I want to give a shout-out to our partner Arizona Center for Youth Resources (ACYR). An ACYR teacher just told me that twice as many of his students have completed their high school equivalency tests and will graduate compared to last year!
ACYR students have typically dropped out of other high school programs, many more than once, and navigate significant challenges outside the classroom. So how did the graduation rates go up? Teachers and staff made finishing their primary focus. And PIPs Rewards played a role through ACYR Rewards, the custom incentives program that their students use.
During the final months of the school year, we used the flexibility of our platform to make some quick changes. The points students earned per test prep action increased, and the number of points needed to redeem a test voucher decreased. Before the incentives program, students had to pay $41 per test across multiple subjects, with the total often reaching $164, a real barrier for many students who cannot afford these fees.
Supporting completion as ACYR just did matters. The final stretch of any hard goal is often the most difficult. Stress and self-doubt grow, and people are tired from the effort they have already put in. A well-timed reward within reach can make the difference.
Supporting completion as ACYR just did matters. The final stretch of any hard goal is often the most difficult. Stress and self-doubt grow, and people are tired from the effort they have already put in. A well-timed reward within reach can make the difference.
Congratulations to the ACYR graduates. And congratulations to the graduates in your life who also crossed the finish line!
With Gratitude,
Carrie
| Photo Credit: Arizona Center for Youth Resources |
Type Two Fun
I often describe the PIPs Rewards app as fun, and I mean that in more than one way. There is the everyday kind of fun, the good time we hope learners have using it. And then there is what mountaineers call Type 2 Fun, the kind the ACYR graduates earned this spring.
Type 2 Fun describes doing something difficult, uncomfortable, or scary, such as climbing a peak. When you are done, you feel proud and accomplished. But it was not always enjoyable in the moment. The achievement moves you forward and builds resilience, persistence, and confidence in ways that easier experiences do not.
PIPs Rewards partners with workforce training and education organizations to design and deliver engaging, custom app-based incentives for opportunity youth and adult learners who are pursuing challenging education and workforce training goals. Their hard work isn’t just the skills training or education program itself. They often need to overcome challenging past experiences in school, juggle family caregiving or unreliable transportation, navigate food insecurity or unstable housing, and so much more.
Our partners work hard to reduce those barriers, and their learners on our app earn Positive Impact Points (PIPs) for key actions they take and redeem their points for meaningful rewards, gaining encouragement and tangible help along the way.
Graduation season is a fitting moment to honor how hard these journeys are, and to celebrate Type 2 Fun accomplishments.
