For a second year, Associated School Employees Credit Union in Youngstown prepared local high school students for their financial futures with its “Financial Starting Points” program. Held at Youngstown State University, the financial literacy program educated 400 students from 15 school districts on the importance of budgeting, saving, and understanding credit concepts during a turbulent economy.

Each student participated in three financial education sessions: Financial Aid 101, Investing 101, and Credit Cards 101. The program ended with an overview of how to be a financially savvy car buyer. Students were asked to examine various auto advertisements and apply what they learned in the previous sessions to determine the best financial deal.

Educators received information about available financial education resources during an appreciation lunch with presentations by Associated School ECU Director Joyce Brooks and Consumer Credit Counseling Director Victor Russell.

“With today’s economy, this program is more essential than ever before,” said Sebring McKinley High School educator Joann Jones.

The credit union partnered with Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley, Youngstown State University, and local credit unions and business partners to offer students the preview of financial decisions they face after high school. Associated School ECU believes the program provides a valuable service while creating a stronger partnership among high schools, credit unions, and area businesses that offer financial education services. The program was funded in part by a grant from the Ohio Credit Union Foundation.

Students at Keystone High School in LaGrange showcased their projects in the Financial Marketing Competition hosted by School Employees Lorain County Credit Union in Elyria. For the competition, student teams developed financial products and/or services that would meet teens’ needs.

Groups conducted surveys to ensure that their products and/or services would truly appeal to teens. “A majority of the students we surveyed said they are going to college, but they don’t know how they are going to pay for it,” said participant Tate Morgan. “My group decided to focus on a product that would help students understand the importance of saving for future goals.”

Working within an assigned budget, the students created business plans and marketing materials.

The projects were presented to a five-judge panel of credit union leaders and marketing experts who decided which team would receive the $500 prize. The winning project was an online financial education tutorial system for middle and high school students. It featured four levels of educational materials with incentive-based activities on the topics of checking, saving, loans, and interest.

“Financial education helps us reach young people at a crucial age, a time when they are first starting to earn their own money and making decisions about how to use it,” said Mary Vaughan, Business Development Manager for School Employees Lorain County CU. “The quality and diversity of the competition presentations were more than we could hope for.” The competition was funded in part with a grant from the Ohio Credit Union Foundation.

Following the grand opening ceremony, the student-run branch opened its first account for Rebecca Labowitz (right), the educator responsible for the credit union and school partnership.

Grants Spotlight
Professional Development: Lynne Kline of City of Painesville Employees Credit Union was awarded the Ohio Credit Union Foundation's 2009 Jacquie Fisher Memorial Scholarship to attend the Credit Union National Association’s (CUNA) Management School. Kline is completing her third and final year of the program, and looks forward to using the business and leadership skills she has obtained to create a positive work environment for credit union employees while building constructive member relationships. CUNA Management School is designed for credit union management personnel who hope to obtain senior-level positions. The program consists of university classes and real-world learning activities that will help attendees become successful managers. According to Kline, “The practical, everyday advice and realistic role-playing offered by the program has been a very educational experience.”


Financial Education: FirstDay Financial Federal Credit Union in Dayton will open its fourth student-run credit union branch in the Patterson Career Center later this year. The branch will be open two days a week from lunch until the end of the school day, and operated by co-op students and a representative of the credit union. Students, faculty, and staff can open savings/checking accounts, make deposits, cash checks, apply for ATM/debit cards, obtain certificate and loan rates, make VISA payments, and sign-up for online banking and e-statements. The student staff will process transactions through the credit union’s online banking system, and deposits will be collected each day. FirstDay Financial FCU believes that student-run branches offer students an opportunity to positively experience the financial skills taught in the classroom before graduating from high school. The branch is funded in part with a grant from the Ohio Credit Union Foundation.


Financial Education: Credit unions in the Northwest Chapter have partnered with Public Broadcasting Service  station WTGE to create a Biz Kid$ distance learning workshop for educators. Videos showing the Biz Kid$ program used in fifth and sixth grade classrooms are being created to advertise the four statewide, 60-minute, distance learning workshops. Attendees will be introduced to the Biz Kid$ materials and strategies for successfully integrating the curriculum into their classrooms. Chapter leaders will showcase additional credit union financial education resources, including MoneyandStuff. “This project has presented credit unions with an opportunity to promote Biz Kid$ while sharing the credit union difference,” said Northwest Chapter President Beth Carpenter. Copies of Seasons 1 and 2 of the Biz Kid$ program will be available via WGTE’s Teachers Resource Center along with links to the free curricula. Funded in part by grants from Outreach Extensions and the Ohio Credit Union Foundation, the project demonstrates that community partnerships can help credit unions expand their financial education efforts while maintaining their marketing budgets.



Bright Idea
Challenges build wealth and member relations
Nearly three-quarters of adults, or more than 74 million people, do not allocate any of their annual household income toward retirement, revealed a recent survey conducted by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Hosting a savings challenge is a modern way credit unions can help members and employees improve their personal finances and save for future events.

In the spirit of reality TV, a savings challenge pits participants, usually families, against one another in a contest to see who can make the biggest financial changes in a specified timeframe. Each team is provided with custom savings and debt reduction goals, and is paired with a “financial trainer,” a credit union staff member who serves as a coach and counselor throughout the contest. The community aspect of the challenge creates an “I am not alone” sense of security that encourages participants to strive toward achieving their savings goals. At the end of the contest, the team that comes closest to achieving its pre-determined savings and debt reduction goals wins the grand prize.

The number of teams and the grand prize don’t need to be large to drive home the importance of saving to your members. A savings challenge simply needs to be enticing, informative, and mirror the credit union’s mission in order to be successful.

Credit unions recently have incorporated interactive Web sites into their savings challenges to appeal to technology-savvy members. Challenge participants blog and post video comments on the sites as the contest progresses. One creative twist to the interactive site allows the public to share tips and ideas on money management. Some credit unions have even introduced play-at-home contests, which include online video workshops, so they can provide financial education to a larger number of individuals.

Recent challenges conducted in Ohio include: a region-wide savings challenge by the Central Ohio Chapter, MidState Educators Credit Union in Columbus, and KEMBA Financial Credit Union in Columbus.

A savings challenge is a win-win for the credit union and its members. Host a challenge and highlight the importance of savings and financial goals, while generating media attention, word-of-mouth advertising, and positive stories to share with legislators.



Professional Development Opportunities
Professional and volunteer development is not just for credit unions with large training budgets. Federal and state regulations require credit unions to provide education and training for their directors, committee members, senior management, and employees. Professional development grants are available through the Ohio Credit Union Foundation (OCUF) and can be used for an array of educational programs, including conferences, seminars, workshops, Webinars, eSchools, and self-study programs. Visit the Foundation Web site at the link below for applications and information, or contact League Outreach Manager Laura Busque at (800) 486-2917, ext. 227, or lbusque@ohiocul.org.
http://www.ohiocreditunions.org/Foundation/Foundation.htm