Just before Spring Break for schools in Henderson County, Mills River Elementary School invited Chris Angel and Tara Garrett of Mountain Credit Union to speak with their first grade classes about financial education. The kids all seemed to have big plans for Spring Break and it was a great time to drive home the idea of responsible spending and saving.
Topics such as “Wants vs. Needs” and “If Money Were No Object, I Would Buy…” were covered with a total of 85 students. The book “Save, Spend, or Donate? (Money Matters)” was also read to the class to illustrate stories about basic economic concepts. Students were then given the opportunity to share their ideas about what they would buy if money were no object. Answers ranged from “a roller coaster” to “a shelter for sad, lonely animals where they could get all the love and food they need.”
Mountain Credit Union also provided a fun word search game for each student and a copy of the coloring page that will correspond with National Credit Union Youth Week™ coming up from April 22-28, 2012. These coloring pages will be collected from the teachers in time to decorate the Fletcher Branch of Mountain Credit Union for that week.
“The students were very intuitive and some gave very touching answers for the things they would buy. Mountain Credit Union is pleased to have established this relationship with Mills River Elementary,” said Tara Garrett, who is Mountain Credit Union’s Assistant Branch Manager in Fletcher, NC. “We are always looking for opportunities to meet with our local students. This takes a burden off of the teachers and also gives the kids a different perspective on the subject.”