Localschools leadingwayin buildingbanks
STUDENTS from St. Joseph’s Secondary School and St. Oliver’s Community College both took part in the final of the 18th ‘AIB Build A Bank Challenge’, one of the longest running schools programmes for Transition and 5th Year students across Ireland. Over 70 schools from across Ireland took part in the virtual final which was held through video conferencing, with each team presenting their project to a panel of judges. ST. Joseph’s Secondary School also walked away with the award for ‘Best Digital Bank for their ‘Retro Bankers’ themed entry.
The AIB Build a Bank Challenge is a year-long programme for Transition and 5th Year students, giving them the opportunity to set up and run an operational bank within their school while exploring innovation, creativity and business management.
The programme also encourages students to give back to their school and community, with participating teams engaging with their local communities and a variety of charities.
Normally, the year-long programme culminates at a National Final in Dublin where students present their projects to the judging panel before the winners are announced at a prize giving ceremony. Due to current Covid-19 restrictions this was not possible this year, so AIB transformed the physical event into a webbased experience, allowing the students to present their Build A Bank projects through video conferencing.
“Since it was introduced in 2002, the challenge has continued to steadily grow and evolve as a programme which engages with thousands of students across Ireland,” said Mark Doyle, Chief Marketing Officer, AIB. We are of course disappointed that we couldn’t host the annual final in Dublin this year.
“However, we were delighted to progress with digital presentations and judging, and still recognise the incredible amount of work that has gone in to each project.”
For more details, please visit www.aib.ie/build-a-bank