Students at a local elementary school are learning the importance of saving their money early.
At Windham Elementary in Daleville, kids are making deposits into their very own savings accounts.
Students are bringing in this month's allowance and money left by the tooth fairy.
“I was wiggling it and it got stuck up there then I pulled it down and it hurt right here, over here,” says Jada Stone.
Windham Elementary students are able to stroll into the bank front of the "First Step Credit Union" to make a weekly deposit into their Kirby Kangaroo savings account.
The accounts are through a partnership with the Army Aviation Credit Union.
“The pillar of a great school is working with the community and involving the community to be leaders,” says Principal Chris Mitten.
“My mom put it in an envelope and I put it in my book bag and I got here to the credit union,” says Stone, talking about her tooth fairy money.
There's even a little incentive.
Students get a toy from the treasure box if their account reaches a $5 milestone, much like a rewards account in the real world.
“It’s really like you deposit your money here, and you pick something out of the treasure box,” says 3rd grader Kindal Smith.
They're learning a valuable life lesson many parents wished they had learned at their age.
“We thought it was important to give the kids a chance to learn about money and become financially savvy about learning how to save, save for a rainy day and learn how to save for something that they wanted,” says Lisa Hales with the Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union, “We felt like if we could teach them early on then it would be easier for them as they got to be adults to learn how to save.”
Principal Chris Mitten hope these financial lessons learned with this voluntary program will follow them as they grow older.
“It’s not just about reading and writing and math although those are the important things, but we're also teaching life lessons,” says Mitten.
Parents can take their kids to withdraw their money from their account whenever they want.
Principal Mitten says they're hoping to make the student credit union available to 5th and 6th graders as well in the next few weeks.