Students in Arlington have gotten a head start in saving funds as early as kindergarten.
Arlington High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members have run the Eagles Bank in School in conjunction with Two Rivers Bank, a branch of First State Bank and Trust Co., for seven years.
Since the start of this year's program, kindergarten through sixth grade students have saved more than $27,000 into their own bank accounts.
Shawna Koger, the school's FBLA advisor, said the program started as a partnership with Two Rivers Bank.
"Basically, our goal is to expose students to savings and let them see how their savings will increase over time," Koger said. "They can start depositing in kindergarten, and everything they have saved, they get in a check at sixth grade graduation."
Every Friday, FBLA members hold different positions to assist in the program.
FBLA member Trevor Denker works closely with the students adding to their savings.
"I sit at a table and work to help kids by monitoring them filling out deposit slips," he said. "If they don't know how to do it, I'll do it for them and kind of walk them through writing their names and account numbers and how much money they deposit."
Tate Johannes works as a teller for the students.
"I take all their deposit slips and deposit books and their money, double count it, verify they filled out the sheet right and then record it in their book," Johannes said.
The final position revolves around recording the students' savings in a spreadsheet.
"It keeps track of their cumulative savings, so we have several checks and balances in place," Koger said. "At the end of the teller session, the high school tellers will count up all their money, lock it in their bag, it goes down to the bank, the bank will count it and we make sure everything matches."
If there's an error, such as a typo in the amount recorded, Koger said the students will work through that process of correcting mistakes.
"It's great problem-solving skills for the high school students," Koger said.
In lieu of interest, Koger said the younger students receive prizes. On Oct. 28, during one session, students earned candy in spirit of Halloween for participating.
During the first week of the program, Koger said the bank also matched everyone's deposit up to $5.
Koger said the program, which also placed nationally at an FBLA competition in the summer, allows real-world experience for the students involved.
"We try to run it just like if you were in a bank," Koger said. "It also helps reinforce the importance of savings for them, because they see how much the younger kids are saving and it's very motivating to them."
