By Brad Segall
BENSALEM, Pa. (CBS) — A pilot program in the Bensalem School District, in Bucks County, is designed to give elementary school students a head start when it comes to learning how to manage their money later in life.
About two dozen sixth graders at Faust Elementary School spend their Wednesday afternoons after school in the library, meeting with representatives from First Federal Savings and Loan of Bucks County. They’re taking part in a program that brings financial literacy to schoolkids.
First Federal president and CEO Jeane Coyle says learning how better to manage money is a key life skill.
“We think it’s a way to have young people at an early age learn about what they want to do for a living, learn how to manage money — which absolutely is also connected to avoiding poverty — and to having them contribute more to the economy when they get older,” she explains.
During the six-week program the students take part in lessons teaching them everything from the basics of spending and saving to the importance of networking and the intracacies of business loans.
During one meeting she emphasized the importance of “networking” in business by handing out her business card to the students and urging them to call her directly if they want a tour of the bank or if they want to shadow an employee.
