Cardinal Credit Union hosts Money Booth Madness at Mentor High

Teaching high school students about financial responsibility doesn’t have to only take place in a classroom.

And it certainly can be fun.

To help kick off this school year, Cardinal Credit Union recently hosted Welcome Back Money Booth Madness during lunch periods at the SmartStart Student Branch at Mentor High School. Cardinal Credit Union will deposit dollar for dollar of money collected in the booth into a student’s Cardinal checking or savings account.

Dominic Santell, a 16-year-old junior at Mentor, took his chance in the money booth and it was a little bit different than he expected.

“When the money started flying around I got an adrenaline rush,” Dominic said. “I really enjoyed it. It was faster than I thought. It felt like I was only in there for 20 seconds, but it had to be longer.”

Through the first lunch period and part of the second, 41 students had already participated in the money booth, and a total of 66 students would grab for cash by the end of the day.

Kim Rowan, the Student Branch manger for Cardinal Credit Union, said the company promotes financial wellness and they go into local high schools to help students set goals and help them pay themselves first.

The money booth was a special event, but the Student Branch is open at Mentor High every Wednesday, giving students the opportunity to not only open an account, but ask questions or even volunteer and work at the branch.

Rowan has 18 years of experience in the financial industry and said getting to students early is beneficial.

“Having the partnership with Mentor Schools has allowed Cardinal the opportunity to promote financial wellness,” she said. “We have an eight-week financial education class; we can reach out to additional students and provide them with many opportunities.”

Other promotional events will be hosted at Mentor throughout the school year as part of the partnership with Cardinal Credit Union, a partnership CEO Christine Blake said benefit both sides and can combine financial education and entertainment.

“We thought what better way to encourage good saving habits than with old fashion, cold hard cash, and fun!” Blake said. “Bridging the old and the new. Ask a student today, if we can send you cash and the response usually: here is my Venmo account.

“We decided to bring money booths into the schools stocked with imitation Cardinal money to incentivize students with an energetic back-to-school event. All money they can capture while in the booths will be converted into real dollars and deposited into their new or existing accounts. This will provide future opportunities for teaching proper money management which can also be incorporated into the new technologies and our in class curriculum with the students.”

Joe Glavan, director of Business Partnerships and CTE at Mentor High School, was very pleased with participation by the students and the continued support of Cardinal Credit Union.

“Mentor Schools is now entering year two of our partnership with Cardinal Credit Union and we are excited to continue to offer innovative ways to help introduce financial literacy to our students as we prepare them for life outside of our educational halls,” he said.

“Aligned with our strategic plan of creating strong community partnerships, collaborating with Cardinal Credit Union allows our students new opportunities to increase their financial literacy,” he added. “In line with Mentor Schools’ vision of increasing real world learning, each student who graduates from Mentor High School will now have the opportunity to not only open a checking account with professional support, but learn the foundational skills required to begin their path to becoming financially independent.

“In addition to operating one of the first student-run branches in Northern Ohio, the partnership provides a disciplined, integrated financial literacy education program, focusing on promoting positive money management skills such as thrift, smart spending, informed use of credit, and the benefits of planned saving and investing.”

Original article via News Herald