B.O.O.S.T.© is an online  bartering program idea that originated from the Founder in an Honour Specialist Course at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Education one summer in l992.  The question  in an end of summer AQ course that made up for a major part of the grade was, "If there were no barriers that existed and you could implement a change that would benefit students/education in society, what would it be"? 

Ms. Rizzo saw that there was an  abundant of resources everywhere, but no framework in place to access these resources fairly in order to benefit students, teachers, industry.  It was in this course where she presented the idea and received an A+ for the idea.  Ms. Rizzo tested the concept among students in the classroom, then among her peers while teaching in various schools, and is now expanding her market to include Industry at a time which will benefit the over-supply of graduating students in a very competitive job market. 

Participants  are given the ability to exchange products, services, their valuable time, using Barter Dollars instead of real dollars at a time when cash and jobs are scarce.  Your time and expertise in something in exchange for someone else's is how the bartering program works. The more members that join, the more variety of products/services may be enjoyed by all. Students, Teachers, Industry can all enjoy the wealth of resources and expertise offered by its community and membership.Benefits of B.O.O.S.T.©

B.O.O.S.T.© will help you enhance your underutilized capacity or extra inventory in exchange for something you need/want

Who can benefit?

Students can barter their expertise in a hobby or skill they have acquired over the years; Professionals and skilled trades could barter their services

A teacher retiree may receive barter dollars for lesson plans, strategies of teaching, mentorship, original works Businesses can increase their exposure to increase their profits in annual revenue or use the bartering program to reduce expenses by offering value in exchange for their building up of dollar points.

What sets us apart from any other bartering program?

We work with graduating/graduated students who are ready and equipped to begin a career but are looking for work We value unpaid volunteer work that was created by the participant or its member group and that includes papers/intellectual works that are useful to others The bartering program pairs active teachers with retired teachers in same fields and subject areas taught A $2000 barter dollar credit will be given to all participants who contribute to the database to start the bartering process and build the databank A job placement service is provided following the successful barter transactions for students wishing to get into a field of study, therefore skipping the typical wild goose chase of registering for various internet sites, conducting daily job searches If you wish to bank your barter dollars for future credit, B.O.O.S.T.© clients will receive a swipe card that converts barter dollar credits into a debit card that converts bartered dollars into a cash value, that may be used locally. A win-win situation as local retail outlets receive increased traffic and students have extra pocket money.