BEVERLY, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Ryal Side neighborhood in Beverly is encouraging good behavior amongst local youths with special coins.
The program, created by the nonprofit Ryal Side Civic Association, offers these coins to children and teenagers in the area in exchange for doing something good. The coins can then be redeemed at At Your Convenience, a local convenience store, for candy and other items.
"I think it's a great idea," said Courtney Dwyer, whose family runs At Your Convenience. "It promotes kids to do good for the community, encourages good behavior, keeps them out of trouble, and they get to keep something positive out of it."
Ryal Side Civic Association is starting out with 200 coins given to teachers at neighborhood schools and police, who can hand them out to children that they see being good citizens. The coins are made of brass, say "Ryal Side" on the front, and have a barrel with the year 1629 on the back. William Ryal was awarded the land that makes up Ryal Side in 1629 by the King of England, and his occupation was a cooper, which is someone who makes barrels.
The first child who redeemed a Ryal Side coin at the store came in on Wednesday, a six-year-old first grader who was given the coin for making a new classmate feel welcome at school.
WBZ's Carl Stevens (@carlwbz) reports.
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