SYLVAN LAKE — She may only be 10 years old, but Michelle Swarbrick is already thinking about the money she’ll need to buy a house one day.
The Grade 5 student works at the Steffie Woima Junior ATB Branch and said the position has helped her realize how important it is to save money.
“When you get like a loan on your house, you’ll know how much you need and you’ll already have some saved up,” Swarbrick said of one financial lesson she’s learned.
The Junior ATB Branch started in November at the school to teach children good saving habits, how banks operate and workplace skills.
More than 20 Grades 4 and 5 students are responsible for running the bank, either as a worker or board member. They applied and were interviewed for the positions.
The bank runs in the library over lunch every other Tuesday and the student greeters, tellers and back cash counters help their peers deposit money into the savings account they’ve opened with the ATB branch in town.
Some of the teaching staff and employees from the financial institution are on hand to help guide the students through the banking process. The bank staff then takes the money back to the branch and posts deposits into each child’s account.
The student board members have to promote the bank around school as well as share money-saving tips at monthly school assemblies.
“This definitely gives students a real hands-on learning experience,” said Leah Rawlings, a Grade 5 teacher who works as the liaison between the bank and school.
“So often I think we learn out of textbooks or we have classroom sets of money, but it’s not the real money. This gives the students the chance to do a real-life thing. It’s basically a reproduction of what they would do in an ATB branch.”
The kids who eagerly deposited their bags of rolled coins on Tuesday impressed John Swarbrick, ATB Financial central region vice-president.
“They’ve all established goals for themselves for things that they want to save for or purchase later on,” he said.
So far, 33 students between Grades 1 and 5 have opened a savings account, including Grade 2 student Tanisha Scott, seven, who is saving to buy an iPod touch.
“This is a great experience for her to ask questions about the real world,” said her father Danny.
Students with savings accounts receive monthly bank statements in the mail.
The Junior ATB Branch at Steffie Woima school is the fourth of its kind in the province. There are two in Edmonton and one in Hinton. There are plans to open branches in Calgary and Medicine Hat.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com