Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina made history during the 2013-2014 school year by becoming the first high school to open a functioning bank inside the school. The move was made in an effort to increase the financial literacy of the students and provide opportunities in the industry.
Hillside is the oldest of 300 historically black high schools that once operated in the state (NC) before desegregation, only five remain today, according to Wikipedia.
Unfortunately, the bank isn’t a black owned bank, but one based in Texas, Woodforest National Bank and is a partnership with Hillside’s Business and Finance Academy. Nevertheless, the program is meant to create opportunity, education and financial literacy for the historically black high school students.
According to organizers of the program, students, families and staff are able to open accounts at the bank, made deposits into their checking and savings accounts. All of this occurs right inside of the school making it easy, convenient while providing a great experience.
Jessica Valentine is the Senior Vice President at the bank and had this to say:
[ADSENSE2]”There’s a staff that’s been hired for this branch, there’s a manager and service representatives and so they facilitate everything,” said Valentine. “And we’re here on a weekly basis sort of providing any follow-up training or questions or things like that. So we’re just supporting the staff that’s here, the kids.”
Many of the employees at the bank are the students. They gain experience on how the bank works internally, how checking and savings accounts are important and are even trained in executing loans and there are classes attached as well.
“Before I took this class, I used to spend money on fast food and a lot of pointless stuff. But Ms. Ross showed us how to balance our money and how to save up,” said Lowther.
Priscilla Ross heads the Business and Finance Academy.
“Well, hopefully this will generate some more interest in students wanting to learn more about the Finance Academy, especially those students who are going to be accountants are thinking about going into anything finance,” said Ross. “They definitely would want to come to Hillside high School.
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This is great news but I went to a school icalled Pile County High in Brundidge, Alabama and I graduated from there and we had a fully operational bank inside the school starting in the fall of 2004, so I guess you meant to say that this school is the first historically black high schools but not the first high school. Our program was called the Business and Finance Academy.
I’m proud of this historically black high school, but they were not the first. My alma mater, Pike County High School, had a bank back in 2008, operated by students, and I believe that bank is still in operation.
You need to fact check. There was a bank opened in Pike county high school in 2004 I believe. I think it even had a drive thru!
I don’t know if I’d want high school students having access to my financial records, whether I was a fellow student or an adult. Still, this idea does have some benefits such as training kids for banking jobs. I know schools have programs to train kids to become top electricians, plumbers, and mechanics, so why not bankers?