CLEVELAND — Willoughby South High School students are learning much more than the basics of math, science and history.
Students like Andrea Pranjeta, who plans to major in business, are focused on finance skills that she and other students will use for the rest of their lives.
“If I want to go and become an entrepreneur, like further out and all that stuff, having all of that knowledge, it's really good. I'm excited to have that experience here at Cardinal Credit in the school,” Andrea said.
The high school has partnered with Cardinal Credit Union not only to bring the curriculum to the school's business and accounting classes but to bring a banking kiosk to the hallways of South High school.
The kiosk will be open during school hours and staffed by student tellers who will be guided by a Cardinal Credit Union employee.
“With finances, I'm very excited with that because we get to have the experience of being a bank teller,” Andrea said.
The branch will have the functionality of a full-size branch and give students the opportunity to experience careers in banking and economics and obtain real-world lessons in money management.
The partnership is something that the school's business teacher, Dannen Baller, and superintendent Steve Thompson say they wish they’d had while in school.
“We are equipping students with all kinds of opportunities to learn as many skills as they can before they leave our campus and they head out into the real world,” Baller said.
“Kids get the opportunity to learn some of the things that I wish I had learned when I was in my early 20’s. Like how dangerous a 20% interest rate on a credit card can be for you long term and how long it can take you to dig out of that $1,000 purchase,” Thompson said.
Andrea said she's excited to learn more about the world of banking and finance and she's really looking forward to sharing what she's learned with her friends.
“I feel like it's a lot easier and more approachable to go up to someone who is your age and ask them these questions,” Andrea said.