Get to Know Addition Financial's High School Branch Program

High school students are on the brink of adulthood and that means they’re at the right time of their lives to prioritize financial literacy and education. For a lot of teenagers, their high school and college years are when they begin to earn and manage their own money and prioritizing financial education can set them up for financial wellness and success throughout their lives.

Addition Financial Credit Union has partnered with high schools in central Florida to set up high school credit union branches. We got our start as a credit union for educators, so it made sense to us to work with area schools to help students learn about money. Here’s the scoop on the AFCU Branch Program. (We have branches on Central Florida college campuses as well, including UCF, Seminole State and Valencia College, but our focus here is on our high school program).

What Is Addition Financial’s High School Branch Program?

The Addition Financial High School Branch Program is an initiative that we designed to help high school students learn about money and financial management. We have set up high school branches on 10 area campuses. Currently, our branches include six in Orange County Public Schools, two in Seminole County Schools and two in Osceola County Public Schools:

• Timber Creek High School
• Lake Brantley High School
• Poinciana High School
• Boone High School
• Oak Ridge High School
• Colonial High School
• Saint Cloud High School
• Ocoee High School
• Lake Howell High School
• Edgewater High School

The high school branch at Timber Creek High School was our first, and it opened in 2008. We have plans to expand the program to educate and engage more high school students in financial literacy. We will announce new high school branch openings as they occur.

Our high school program offers full training from our banking professionals for the high school students who work at each branch. All branch workers are high school students and most work for school credit, but there is a paid Head Teller position at every branch.

What we love most about the High School Branch Program is the energy and enthusiasm that our student tellers bring to their work. It keeps us in touch with what we love about our jobs!

How Does the Program Benefit High School Students?

Every student who attends a high school where we have an Addition Financial branch can benefit from our presence on campus. Here are some of the most important benefits for both students and our student tellers.

Access to Money

Students who attend each school can become Addition Financial members and open a student checking account. The high school branches allow students to access their money when they need it. Students who wish to do so can even get school spirit debit cards that feature their school’s logo. We have debit cards available for many high schools that don’t yet have an Addition Financial branch, too.

Financial Education

The presence of a credit union branch on campus gives students and student tellers the opportunity to become more financially literate. Having a student checking account teaches kids about how to spend responsibly and debit cards provide teens with some spending power they couldn’t get with cash.

Because students who have accounts are all Addition Financial members, they get access to our online resources, as well. These include blog posts, guides, calculators, and our podcast, Making It Count. We’ll go into more detail about the specific skills students can learn later.

Work Experience

Every Addition Financial branch on a high school campus is fully staffed and operated by students. We provide training but we trust our student tellers to do their jobs well and perform all the duties of a full-time Addition Financial teller. These may include account inquiries, deposits, withdrawals and transfers.

Experience working at a financial institution looks great on a student resume. In fact, some of the students who work at our high school branches go on to become full-time Addition Financial employees when they finish their education.

Summer Internships

A lot of high school students like having a summer job because they can earn money. Addition Financial offers paid summer internships and many of our student tellers choose to work for us over their summer vacation.

The experience they get working in full Addition Financial branches allows them to earn money and gain additional job experience. We love being able to hire students and work with them every day. It’s as rewarding for us as it is for them!

Annual Scholarship Opportunities

We have a passion for education, so it may not surprise you to learn that we offer annual scholarship opportunities for the graduating students who work in our high school branches, as well as for other students who attend school in one of the counties we serve.

We offer scholarships through the J.A.M. Jr. Annual Scholarship Program, which is named after Addition Financial’s former President and CEO, Joseph A. Melbourne. There are a total of six scholarships available for high school students. Here are the requirements to take advantage of an Addition Financial scholarship opportunity: 

• The student must be an account holder or joint account holder at Addition Financial
• They must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher
• They must have been accepted and plan on attending a college, trade school or university in Florida
• The scholarships are worth $10,000 each. Students who work in our high school branches are eligible to apply.

In addition to our scholarships for high school students, we also offer two master’s level scholarships. To be eligible, students must have been accepted into or be enrolled in a master’s program either in the state of Florida or online. 

What Financial Skills Can Students Learn Through This Program?

Because Addition Financial’s origins are in education, we are passionate about financial education and literacy. We’re proud to offer tons of financial resources on our website, including blog posts and our podcast, Making It Count.

One of the reasons we initiated our Addition Financial High School Branch program was to connect with young members of our community and teach them how to manage their money effectively. Here are some of the skills they can acquire:

• How checking accounts work, including how to balance a checkbook
• How to deposit and withdraw money
• How to use a debit card responsibly
• How to create a budget and track expenses and spending
• How to protect themselves from financial fraud
• How to prioritize saving money with our AddsUp Savings Program
• How to build credit to lay the foundation for future financial wellness
  

Even when their parents have done a good job of teaching them about money, there’s always more to learn. We prioritize financial literacy and make it a point to provide students with the resources they need.

We can't forget to mention that our student tellers gain a wealth of knowledge in financial literacy. They're gaining hands-on experience in everything from customer service to handling cash and even carrying out financial transactions.

Do Students Get to Interact with Actual Banking Professionals?

Our Addition Financial high school branches are fully operated by students, so you might be wondering if student tellers get to interact with actual banking professionals. They do, and here’s how it works.

Every student teller who works in one of our high school branches gets fully trained before they begin working for us. Training is provided by Addition Financial employees. Students learn how to be tellers from professional tellers and get important training to help them do their jobs well.

As we’ve already mentioned, there are also paid summer internships. Students who work for us as part of the internship program work in full Addition Financial branches alongside our professional team. That means they can learn by watching and asking questions.

Open a Student Checking Account with Addition Financial

We’re extremely proud of Addition Financial’s High School Branch Program. It’s a valuable part of our ongoing commitment to providing financial education to everybody who lives, works, attends school or worships in our service area. We especially value the relationships we’ve built with our high school tellers and the students they serve every day.

Are you looking for a student checking account that can help you learn about money management and further your financial education? We would love to have you as an Addition Financial member! Click here to get the details of our student accounts and join today.