THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601230126
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Education
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
DALE HENRY, A parent volunteer at Smithfield Middle School, thought it was a great idea when the school first started talking about starting a banking program.
After all, her 11-year-old son, Eddie, like so many his age, was notorious for spending his allowance and the extra money he made from chores around the house as soon as he got it.
So Henry, a former bank teller, was happy to work with the program sponsored by the local First Union Bank. And to encourage her son to participate, she used some parental psychology.
``I started giving him a little extra lunch money, just to see what he would do with it,'' Henry said, laughing. ``I wanted to see if he would pass up buying ice cream or junk food and put his money in the bank.''
So far, it's worked. Eddie, a sixth- grader, started a savings account at school last week with $2.25 he'd saved from the previous week.
The program made it easy for him. Bank representatives have been visiting Smithfield Middle beginning at 7:30 each Wednesday morning since just before the Christmas holidays.
School banking was introduced by a parent, First Union employee Linda Goodman-Rogers, says Principal Rebecca Mercer. Goodman-Roger's son, Eugene, is a seventh- grader at the school.
Mercer says Goodman-Rogers called to tell her the banking program was available through First Union, and the bank's local branch became one of Smithfield Middle's official business partners.
Teachers at every grade level helped to prepare the students for the introduction of banking services at the school. The teachers had mini-sessions on banking and talked about the importance of saving. More than 30 students already had signed up before the Smithfield Middle bank was opened the first day.
``We taught some lessons on goal setting through our group advisory program,'' Mercer says. ``We started with goal setting and worked into how a savings account can help achieve goals. It's an optional program. The students can leave their money in the savings account the entire time they're in middle school. Once they leave here, it becomes a regular savings account.''
Since the initial startup, about 30 more students have started savings accounts with the First Union representatives. For now, the option is strictly savings. Students will not be allowed to make withdrawals until the end of the school year. They will receive interest based on whatever rate the bank is paying for passbook savings accounts.
Henry says her son's goal is to save enough money to buy a new computer game. But she hopes, if she keeps encouraging the practice, that his goal will change.
``I'd like to see him start saving for college.''
Mercer has the same idea.
``We can see the students saving for college, saving for a car. There are a lot of things this can work into. We'd like to see the children become lifelong savers now. The bank has the idea that, if we train children early, a better percentage will have savings accounts as they get older.''
A bank representative, working with parent volunteers, sets up a table just outside the library Wednesday mornings at 7:30 and stays until 8:25 a.m. so students can open accounts or make deposits.
``There seem to be new kids signing up every week,'' Henry says. ``We had about 15 last Wednesday. One class already has 100 percent participation.''
The average deposit has been a dollar or two, but one student last week deposited $100, all of it representing Christmas gifts from relatives, Mercer says.
``We've had better participation than I'd imagined. We're going to really push it with our upcoming sixth-graders from Carrollton and Hardy elementaries. The banking program will be part of our orientation when those new students come over here this spring.'' by CNB