By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – Students in kindergarten and first grade at Fort Fairfield Elementary School got a head start on their future financial responsibilities when staff, including Monty Moose, from the Fort Fairfield branch of the County Federal Credit Union visited on April 25.
“This is our second year doing this. Our goal is to teach youngsters the early principles of banking,” said Effie Murchie, branch manager.
The children, appearing in separate groups representing kindergarten and first grade, met with branch officials in the library where they were presented with a story, followed by an opportunity to answer questions designed to see how well they listened to the presentation.
Madelene Desmond, a member service representative, came up with the story of the penny, said Murchie.
Using the coin, Desmond explained the barter system, that there are two types of money, who can make money and how many pennies it takes to make a nickel, dime and so forth.
“I explained to the students that there are two types of money, coins and dollars; the only people who can make money is the government at the United States mint; and once minted, money is transported by special trucks to banks throughout the country. I also explained to the children what you can trade five pennies for and so on,” said Desmond. “It’s important for children to learn the importance of money at an early age.”
In its second year, the program took nearly a year to design and implement.
“We (bank staff) thought it would be nice to do something with the students. We worked over a period of several months to come up with this program,” said Murchie.
Murchie explained the idea came based on memories from her own childhood.
“I recalled a program from my own childhood that involved teaching children to save. Back then, bank employees went to the schools teaching finances. But this program is designed for a younger age group,” said Murchie. “It’s never too early to begin explaining the importance of handling financial matters carefully.”
Desmond concluded each session by explaining to students that pennies can be found anywhere. Once found, they can add up in a hurry.
“Pennies can be found at home, school, work, in a parking lot, in cars, closets, under beds – just about anywhere. They can really add up over time,” said Desmond, showing the children a small bank with all the pennies she’d collected over the previous week.
Before leaving the sessions, each student was presented with a gift bag that included a piggy bank like the one Desmond used in her presentation.
Lining up, one by one the students were presented their bags by Murchie and Christy LeBlanc, head teller with the bank. And just before leaving, each child got one last treat.
“Each student had the opportunity to hug or otherwise greet Monty Moose on his or her way out of the library. Most seemed to enjoy that the most, though there were a couple that were a bit hesitant,” said Murchie.
Murchie said plans are to continue the program in the future.
“We’d like to continue working with students in years to come. This year’s first graders, we’re told, were actually looking forward to this because they remembered us coming last year. Teaching them the importance of saving a penny, we hope, will evolve into saving larger denominations in the future. Saving is something they can do themselves – have control over and be proud of. This program allows them to have a role in their own financial future,” said Murchie.
