This enamel-destroying, pro-caries practice didn't start until the yr. I began 5th grade. Twice a day, she'd break out the goodies -- and that's really stretching the word. The best item was a bag of greasy julienne potato sticks that the kids for some reason referred to as "French fries." A nickel... or was it a dime? Another one was a green chunk or spearmint toffee which was named "Southies." They were 2-cents each. Everything else was apparently so bad that I can't recall them. The thing was that she'd break out the goodies at 10 am, just an hour-and-half before lunch, and then again at 2pm. I wonder if the Monsignor had a brother who was a dentist and needed patients. Didn't matter to me as I couldn't afford these "goodies" anyway.
I've never heard of such a thing. I had a retired Marine Corp colonel who would tell you to "Draw 5" or "Draw 10" from the jar on his desk as reward from an exemplary answer in his 7th grade Social Studies class. I got to Draw 10 for knowing that the symbol of an American Eagle with arrows in its talons could be found on the back of a dollar bill.