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The branch, which was unveiled two weeks ago, will be used to offer a convenience factor to Sun East customers. It offers more flexibility and allows the credit union to work in the community, Barrett said.
Monday was the first time the branch made a visit to a school. It visited Bethel Springs’ fourth grade classes then.
It should quickly become an extension of the credit union’s financial education program, which started last year, said trainer Janelle Kilson. The program is tailored to individual grade levels to explain banking fundamentals.
Kilson taught the program at the school in April, but the credit union brought the mobile branch back to relate what was taught in the classroom to real-world experience, said Barrett.
"It’s not just sheets of paper," Barrett said of the program. "We really encourage a start."
While some of the branch’s functions may be a bit advanced for fourth- and fifth-graders -- applications for loans and mortgages are available on board -- the basic functions are applicable.
Fifth-grade classes, for example, learned about checking accounts and debit cards when Kilson taught the program.
"There’s no curriculum in most of the schools for this," she said.
When there is, students don’t always understand the lesson, said Nicole Henderson, a fifth-grade math teacher at Bethel Springs.
"Now, they can see how it relates to what we teach them," Henderson said.
It worked for Worrell.
Barrett stumbled to find an answer to his question.
"No" said Barrett, who admitted he was surprised a fifth grader knew about service charges. "At least not if you’re a member of the credit union."
Worrell quickly lost interest. He doesn’t have an ATM card yet, but didn’t like the sound of paying to use one at Sun East if he uses a different bank.
Barrett has the program to thank for that.
"I didn’t know about service charges before the class," Worrell said.
