SPRING, Texas - Critics of traditional schools opine that they don't teach life skills-in particular financial literacy-so when a new "academy" high school was designed to teach those very skills, Houston-based InvesTex CU saw the opportunity in being a part of it.
While in-school CU branches are not new, the Academy at Carl Wunsche Sr. High School is. Students from other Spring Independent School District high schools must apply to participate in one of several practical disciplines at the academy, including health services, teaching, technical, legal and business/finance. Depending on the career path students wish to pursue, their classes will vary. For example, a student in the legal area would read law-oriented books in English class. Students would attend the academy part time, while remaining enrolled full-time in their "regular" high school-and would receive their diplomas from the regular school.
Students who are accepted into the business/finance area will have an opportunity to apply to be an intern at the InvesTex Credit Union branch, said Brian Ellis, the credit union's executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Those accepted will receive classroom credit while learning the skills necessary to work in (or run) a financial institution.
"This is a new concept of a high school. There is another in the Ft. Worth area," Ellis told The Credit Union Journal. "We have three interns training with us now... We are training them how to operate the systems, count cash and perform other tasks."
The student interns currently are being paid for their training time, he continued. Once the branch and school are open, the interns will work six hours per week. Ellis foresees a pool of 10 intern candidates from the business/finance area. Upon graduation, students will receive a certificate from the credit unions, and will have the opportunity to become credit union employees.
InvesTex CU will have a full-time employee, Nang Pen, at the Academy branch every day "managing things," Ellis said.
"The branch is near completion, and we will be ready for operations when the school opens. Our operation will focus on student education and member service. There is an anchor branch about five miles away and, initially, that branch manager, Bridgett Sanders, will visit the in-school branch frequently. After a couple weeks, I expect Nang will be running the show."
Practical Skills
Teachers and administrators in the Spring ISD wanted students to learn practical, real-life skills, Ellis said. Teenagers will need to "know how to communicate, first of all," upon graduation, which may not come from a standard high school curriculum-thus the idea for the Academy was born.
In 2004, Teresa Dossman, the career and technology director for Spring ISD, approached the CEO of InvesTex with the opportunity to become involved in the planned new Academy. The credit union was going through several internal changes at the time, Ellis recalled, so it was unable to commit.
Last year, Dossman, a long-time member of the CU, again contacted the CEO because the bank that had agreed to open an in-school branch at the Wunsche Academy pulled out. InvesTex was ready, and the offer was too good to pass: the school district would own most of the equipment, and the credit union would serve as a partner.
"We did not have to make a large capital investment for the in-school branch, such as when we opened two full-service branches in 2005," said Ellis.
The academy branch will be full service; open to existing members as well as students and teachers, he said. Students age 14 to 19 will be able to open an "iMember" electronic account designed for them. As the branch is at a school and access is limited, it will not have a drive-through.
"Because it is new and unique, we anticipate the first six months to a year will be very active. But the design and purpose is learning skills for the students. The students will receive skills for the business/finance Academy, and they will receive skills for the real workforce. The credit union is part of the community and this is a way to help the community. It is a perfect match," said Ellis.
