FL High School Students Earn $135K Through Literacy Initiative

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Ninth-grade students from four Pinellas County high schools were awarded $135,000 for improving their grades and literacy levels this year.

The award was earned through the 12th annual Paid for Grades program, a performance-based literacy initiative backed by Clearwater-based fintech company Chargebacks911, according to a news release.

This year, 135 students from Boca Ciega, Hollins, Lakewood and East Lake high schools participated in the program.

Participating students earned $500 each for successfully completing the course. Designated mentors received $400 each and schools were awarded $100 per student.

“It’s basically giving them incentive to do what they’re going to do anyway. And just that extra incentive, that extra push, that extra encouragement. I would encourage more people to do it,” Karen Dydzuhn, a teacher at East Lake and Paid for Grades mentor, said. “This really gets your kid engaged. This really will help them through the whole year and the whole program.”

“As Florida faces its lowest reading and math scores in more than two decades, programs like Paid for Grades have become more critical than ever,” Chargebacks911 said in the news release.

The state’s eighth-grade reading scores fell in 2024, ranking below the national average for the first time since 2015 and placing behind 27 other states, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is also known as the Nation’s Report Card.

The report also showed that reading scores for eighth graders nationwide dropped to their lowest level since 1998, the company said. The percentage reading below the “basic level” reached an historic 33 percent — the largest in the test’s history — last year. In Florida, that number reached 37 percent.

“(Paid for Grades students) have grown so much in their academics and they’ve grown so much as a person, they know what they’re doing compared to the people that did not take it,” Francessca Zitiello, a freshman at East Lake High School, said. “It’s such a helpful program that I really do recommend taking.”

Founded by Chargebacks911 CEO Monica Eaton, Paid for Grades incentivizes student achievement through a unique formula: improving their GPA and readability, maintaining strong attendance and behavior, and getting rewarded for the effort.

"Watching this program grow year after year — and now expand to new schools like Eastlake reminds me of why we started it in the first place," Eaton said. "These students have proven that dedication, resilience, and the right support system can change lives. I hope every student walks away not just with a check, but with the belief that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to."

To date, Paid for Grades has contributed nearly $1.7 million to Pinellas County students, mentors, and schools.