Mysteries - With Extra Fruit!

I am trying to figure out a puzzle that looks like this:

A pencil, a bag, some gum, and a conundrum.

James brought this home in his backpack on Friday. I asked if someone had a birthday in his class and he said "Yeah." Then I unpacked his communication notebook and discovered these were really rewards for hard work.

Yay for rewarding hard work! Um, but what kind of hard work? No clue.

James chose his prizes. The pencil with numbers on it makes sense. He likes and uses both. But the gum I can't fathom. To my knowledge, he's never tried it.  And he's ignored it since it arrived home with him.

I'll keep trying to get James to explain this to me. Push come to shove, I'll ask his aide. It's a little thing, but the unanswered questions about his day are nagging at me.