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Viking
Middle School Success Story
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First Wisconsin KidzBANK Opened in Woodville
By: Jennifer Davy
The first KidzBANK program in Wisconsin was initiated Friday, February 7 at the Viking Middle School in Woodville. The KidzBANK program, sponsored by The First National Bank of Hudson’s branch office in Baldwin, is a financial literacy program intended to teach school age children the fundamentals of
banking and the importance of saving money.
In preparation for the opening of KidzBANK, students made posters and banners advertising the bank that they hung up around the school. A large banner, hung over the KidzBANK table in the cafeteria read, “We can handle your money.” The kids traced and painted large handprints on the banner. Any
 student who opens an account during the month of February is eligible to win a 13 inch color television, prominently displayed in one of the school’s corridors. This turned out to be a big incentive for the patrons lined up to deposit money on Friday. The drawing will be held at the end of the month.
The 5th and 6th grade classes at Viking Middle School are being supervised by 6th grade teacher DeAnn Ashlin. A group of students will take turns as bank tellers each week. On Friday, student tellers Logan Jacobson and Kayla Wagner signed up interested student bank patrons. Students needed only $2 to open up an account with KidzBANK. 55 students, from the 5th and 6th grade classes opened up accounts on Friday with a grand total exceeding $200. The bank will be open every Friday during the student’s lunch period for approximately 1 hour. Students can deposit as little as $.50 per week. At the end of the school year, any student who has $25 in their KidzBANK account will receive a $1 savings bonus from the First National Bank of Hudson-Baldwin.
After the close of the bank each week, student bank tellers will input all of the deposit and withdrawal information into the KidzBANK software program. Student tellers will be able to access a bank statement for any one of their patrons at any time. After all of the information has been input into the computer and a new balance has been reached, the money will be deposited into a single KidzBANK account at The First National Bank’s Baldwin branch.
KidzBANK teaches not only the importance of saving money, but teaches kids how to keep a balanced checkbook, how to calculate interest and how to define important banking terms. KidzBANK teaches the importance of banking, a concept that, according to the Fannie Mae Foundation, as many as 12 million people in this country do not understand. First National Bank Executive Vice-President, Dale Crowley stated, “We see this program as an excellent way to support our schools and to provide a tool that teaches the importance of saving and the importance of financial institutions in our community.”
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