An innovative partnership to teach money-management skills to students launched this week between a southern Ohio district and a local credit union.
The Atomic Credit Union is establishing student-operated credit unions in the three elementary schools in the Jackson City School District. The credit union offers free savings accounts for children that feature no fees or minimum balance requirements. The credit union will provide the first $2 deposit for each student who opens an account and students may then deposit as little as one cent at a time – to ensure that all students can participate, regardless of their family finances. One day a week will be designated as “credit union day” in the schools when students can make transactions, and fifth-grade students will learn real-world job skills working in the school credit union.
Credit Union President and CEO Tom Griffiths told the local Telegram newspaper, "For our children to be growing up and experiencing the worst economic times our country has seen since the Great Depression, I cannot think of a better ‘educational vehicle’ than that of a student-run financial institution."
The average household carries more than $10,000 in credit card debt and college tuition continues to rise (in fact, Sec. Duncan and Vice President Biden are talking college affordability in Columbus today). People – especially in areas like southern Ohio, where unemployment rates still top 10 percent – need to learn how to save and manage money. If this partnership can help achieve that, it would be terrific to see it expand to other schools in the area.
