Fourth grade classes show their savings books after lessons given by bank representatives (from left to right) Beth Wolyniec, Sue Tollackson & Linda Reeser

MONTGOMERY – On Tuesday, May 3rd, representatives from The Muncy Bank & Trust Company visited the Montgomery Elementary School and taught three fourth grade classes the importance of saving money. This event, “Teach Children to Save”, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, marks the 15th year this educational program has been in place.

This presentation is one of many being made by bankers across the country as part of a nationwide effort to foster financial awareness in the young people of our communities according to Kimberly A. Wetherhold, Human Resource Specialist with The Muncy Bank & Trust Co.

“The tools we teach children today will help to encourage them to be more budget conscience by saving for the things they need, and to improve their overall financial outlook for the future”, stated Dan Berninger, President & CEO of the Muncy Bank.

Bank representatives handed out, “My Savings Book & Journal”, to further assist students with learning to manage their money and by setting financial goals for themselves. This book also teaches about the functions of community banks and has fun and interesting trivia questions. Some hands-on activities helped the children learn how to balance a savings account and they were taught the importance of saving money received as gifts or allowances. “Both short term and long term goals were discussed,” Wetherhold added. They were shown how to save for more costly items such as bikes, DVD’s, I-pods, and cell phones vs. saving for long term situations such as college, retirement, computers and even flat screen TV’s. Handouts were awesome according to the students who got to keep them for future reference.

The three Montgomery elementary classes visited were with 4th grade teachers Mrs. Lorson, Mrs. Mulfinger, and Mrs. Zettlemoyer. The children learned about the function of a bank, the importance of growing interest, setting financial goals and budgeting. “We also went over coin collecting and important dates,” said Beth Wolniec. “We hope to reach all of the local schools with this program,” said Wetherhold who also said they visited Warrior Run School District last fall.

Some of the trivia questions and fun facts given in the handbook that were asked to the students were:

In America during the 1700’s and 1800’s, the soft leather skins of deer were used as commodity money. Because deerskins are also known as buckskins, the dollar was nicknamed “a buck”.

The first coins didn’t have any value carved or stamped into them. The bigger the coin, the more valuable it was. Some coins were huge!

You can tell where most American coins are minted, or made, by the initial next to the face on the coin: P for Philadelphia, D for Denver, and S for San Francisco.

The books were purchased by the bank for the students for them to keep and use to teach the value of saving money. Afterwards, they were encouraged to open a savings account of their own with the help of their parents or guardian.