FBLA students partner with local bank to complete project

Adams Bank & Trust (AB&T) of Imperial was contacted by the Chase County Schools’ (CCS) Bank-in-School branch to assist students in completing an FBLA project requirement.
CCS juniors Alexis Richmond and Lindsey Mendenhall partnered with AB&T to complete their FBLA “Partnership with Business” project.
The FBLA students focused on the opportunity to work with the bank to promote financial literacy through the CCS Bank-in-School branch it sponsors.
The goal established for the project was multi-faceted— educating students on money management, distinguishing between needs and wants and ultimately increasing the number of customers utilizing the Bank-in-School program.
Richmond and Mendenhall prepared a schedule with educational activities and lessons to teach in all K-4 grade classrooms at CCS.
As part of the lesson schedule, students were instructed on the importance of evaluating wants from needs, followed by money saving skills and goal setting for future distinction between wants and needs.
Once the four-week project was completed, Richmond and Mendenhall were able to track the impact of their project.
They noted that the Bank-in-School branch had seven new customers, and the number of depositors increased by an average of four per week.
Following the project activities, each student received information about Bank-in-School and a new coin purse.
Bank-in-School is a program created with the mission to promote financial literacy in public schools through the partnership of local banks.
The program was created by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).
CCS was the 27th Bank-in-School program launched in Nebraska and the first for AB&T as well as the first for the western Nebraska region, said Lana Shaw, marketing director for AB&T.
AB&T also sponsors the program with Creek Valley Schools in Chappell, she said.