By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Jennifer Bruff is “banking” on her class reaping big “dividends” from a recent field trip.
Mrs. Bruff bused her sixth-grade Union City Middle School Advanced Math students to The Citizens Bank, where the class last week got an inside look at how the everyday banking industry works.
It’s part of a practice she’s repeated for more than 10 years and a project that has worked well to prepare students for the reality of what lies ahead for them as adults.
“I believe it’s a cross between a game and the real world,” said Mrs. Bruff, who incorporates a complete banking experience with the class. “I’ve not had to fine-tune the project much because it’s worked so well.
“We talk about getting jobs, budgeting our money, the use of both debit and credit cards and the responsibilities that come with them. My main goal with the class and the field trip is to connect their classroom learning to the real world. I believe that this experience gives them a better understanding of what lies ahead for them as adults.”
The teacher annually polls her class to see who might have family working at a local bank. This year, it was Edie Rodgers, whose father Chris is the president of TCB’s Hickman, Ky., office; thus, the trip to that institution.
In the bank tour, students met each employee and learned their roles and responsibilities. They were allowed to visit inside the vault and went behind teller row to see how things are done.
“The kids had some great questions,” Mrs. Bruff continued. “They asked about the FDIC sign and saw the different pieces of equipment and how they worked.
“They were attentive and really took note of some things we haven’t even talked about.”
In daily classroom work, students are given mock checking accounts and assigned the responsibilities of paying bills, recording deposits and even writing checks to one another.
“These students don’t see a lot of people writing checks anymore. But teaching them about the checking account and the importance of having a paper trail for your finances is a very valuable life lesson, ” Mrs. Bruff explained. “We have discussed and debated whether check writing will still be used when these students have their own accounts.
“Because of digital banking and the use of debit cards, many students aren’t sure they will ever use checks.”
It’s the only project Mrs. Bruff has in all of her classes in which she requires all work to be done in school and not at home.
“They keep up with everything as far as balancing their account. It’s really just the process of having money and learning to manage it,” Mrs. Bruff said. “Integers and decimals are 6th grade state standards, and both are very important skills to build upon in 6th grade and future grades.
“And, like with everything I teach, I try to stress to students how important it is that they learn it.”
There’s nothing like a special “interest” earned from a teacher.
Photo by Mike Hutchens.
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