Carmelo Anthony -- Do Your Homework!!! I'll Give You Knicks Tix

Stay in school, kids ... because if you do well, Carmelo Anthony will give you free Knicks tickets!!! At least that's what he did in Baltimore this week.

Melo and teammate Iman Shumpert dropped by the Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center in MD to spend some time with the kids in the program, and Melo rewarded the 15 Students of the Month with free Knicks tickets to Thursday's game in Baltimore (against the Wizards).

Anthony gave each student 2 tickets ... handing out 30 total ... but he didn't forget about the non-Students of the Month. We're told he handed out t-shirts to everyone. And they all had a blast.

Talk about a real winner -- and not just because the Knicks trounced the Wizards 98-89.