Cattle Bank & Trust Opens Student Branch At Kooser Elementary

(KFOR NEWS  October 19, 2022)   On October 25th, Cattle Bank & Trust will open a “student branch” inside Kooser Elementary, culminating months of planning with Kooser school faculty, Cattle Bank & Trust, and the Nebraska Council on Economic Education.

The Kooser Branch is the third in-school branch of Cattle Bank, which already has a branches at Arnold and Roper Elementary Schools.  These branches are part of the growing In School Savings Program across Nebraska.  The Kooser Branch becomes the 11th branch within Lincoln Public School district and the 38th in the state.  Other successful LPS branches can be found at Arnold, Belmont, Cavett, Clinton, Elliott, Hartley, Huntington, Lakeview, Wysong, and Roper Elementary schools.

“Research shows getting students into the habit of saving early by participating in an in-school savings program is correlated to future beneficial financial behaviors”, said Dr. Jennifer Davidson, President of the Nebraska Council on Economic Education.

The student branch at Kooser Elementary is designed to:

• introduce the economic concept of savings early and reinforce this idea throughout the elementary curriculum;
• demonstrate that saving should be part of a student’s personal finance plan for his or her future;
• provide the opportunity to discover careers in the area of banking and finance;
• increase parental involvement through savings and banking activity.

“When the opportunity presented itself to partner with Cattle Bank to open the Kooser Kodiak Branch, I wholeheartedly jumped at the idea,” said Kellie Joy, Principal at Kooser Elementary School.  “With our mission at Kooser Elementary being educating, embracing, and empowering all students for lifelong learning, I saw a direct and relevant way for our students to develop leadership skills while learning about banking, starting personal saving habits, and setting goals for their future.”

Student tellers applied to work at the student branch. Selected students were then interviewed, hired and trained by Cattle Bank staff.

“It has been great to work with the selected tellers and complete the training process with them.  They are learning great skills that will stay with them as they continue their education and get them prepared for the future,” said Roger Cattle, of Cattle Bank.

Starting October 25, the student branch will be open once a week for savings deposits only.  It will be staffed by an actual Cattle Bank teller along with the student tellers.

“We are so excited about this project,” said Chase Piel, Branch Manager of Cattle Bank “we will match the initial deposits of the students up to $5.00 to help them get started.”

Incentives will be provided based on the frequency of deposits and as the students reach various savings goals.  All students must obtain parental permission to participate.  Each year, new students will have the opportunity to be part of the new teller group.  The branch will be closed over
the summer months and holiday breaks but will reopen again during the school year.

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