Treasurer Sprague visits high school credit union

During a visit to Lake County on Sept. 1, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague stopped by Mentor High School to learn about the new partnership between Mentor Schools and Cardinal Credit Union to create a student branch of the union in the high school commons area.

Mentor Schools Superintendent Bill Porter was joined by the district Chief Financial Officer Bill Wade, Mentor High Principal Jason Crowe and CareerTech Education Coordinator Joe Glavan, along with several other Mentor Schools and Cardinal

Credit Union representatives, to give Sprague an overview and tour of the project.

Glavan stated they hope Mentor High can set an example for schools across the state as a practical model of financial education.

He explained to Sprague that a key attribute the school leaders constantly hear about as being sought by employers and parents is financial literacy, and the partnership with Cardinal Credit Union will help ensure all Mentor High students receive that well-needed education.

“We know that our students have to have a sound foundation of financial literacy, that’s going to set them up for success for the rest of their lives,” Glavan said. “In order to do that, one of the things we looked at is how do we implement that with fidelity? It’s one thing to have a couple programs, but how do we do it consistently, so that every student who is leaving these halls has that same foundation.”

To solve this, the partnership with the credit union will also provide every student at Mentor High school with an economics course, including an eight-week program run by Cardinal Credit Union employees.

The primary goal of the new branch, which will officially open in mid-September, will be to help high school students have a better understanding of personal financial responsibility and management through a real-world learning process.

School officials hope this will prepare Mentor students to be more confident in handling their own finances as they move into adulthood.

Once the SmartStart student branch opens, it will be managed by marketing and business administration career-tech students along with students in the Cardinal Lab, Mentor High’s special education program. With the assistance of on-site Cardinal Credit Union staff members, it will be primarily student-run, including student tellers.

Students will be able to do essentially anything one would do at a full Cardinal Credit Union branch, including opening an account, making transactions and budgeting their finances.

Sprague was also able to meet a couple of the future student tellers and take a look at the campus branch booth.

“I appreciate what the credit union is doing, not just to invest dollars and cents, but their time and effort, their experience and knowledge, back into the school system and back into these kids,” Sprague said.

“The reality is that finance can be boring, you talk about financial literacy and their eyes just roll into the back of their head,” he added. “But if you talk to them about, say, let’s check out the watermark on this $100 bill, and let’s teach you a little bit about how to use Venmo, all of a sudden it’s real relevant.

“It becomes relevant, it becomes real, and with the credit union that’s here in the school, they have a chance to do something that’s hands-on.”