News Room
May 14, 2010
Redwood Credit Union Partners with Local Schools for Banking & Finance Academy
Accredited Program Teaches Financial Skills to High School Students
Santa Rosa, CA –Redwood Credit Union (RCU) is again partnering with the Santa Rosa School District to offer a free 16-hour banking and finance academy for local high school students. Using the High School Financial Planning Program (HSFPP) created by the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), the program includes helpful topics such as budgeting, financial planning, saving and investing, credit and debt management and other life skills related to managing money.
The free Summer Banking & Finance Academy takes place at Redwood Credit Union’s Administrative Offices, 3033 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, June 15 through 18, 2010 from 9 am to 1 pm. Students entering 11th or 12th grade at any Sonoma County high school are eligible to enroll. To register, contact Lee Alderman, AVP of Educational Development at RCU, at (707) 576-5266, or email academy@redwoodcu.org. Space is limited, so early registration is encouraged.
“We are passionately committed to financial literacy and strongly believe that money management skills learned at a young age are beneficial for a lifetime,” said Brett Martinez, President & CEO of RCU. Martinez is a strong supporter of financial education, and believes that basic money management – such as balancing a checking account – is an essential life skill that should be required in public school coursework. “Eventually, we would like to see financial management skills made a mandatory part of the state’s high school economics curriculum, so we are examining the process through these extracurricular financial academies,” Martinez added.
RCU has received positive response from students, parents and educators on its 2 previous financial academies, and plans to continue offering the program regularly. In addition, RCU offers customized Youth Accounts for children and teens, including dividend-earning savings accounts, free educational newsletters and websites, online banking and more.
Now celebrating its 60th year of service, RCU is a full-service financial cooperative, offering competitive financial products and services to fulfill consumer and small business financial needs, including checking and savings accounts, to consumer and mortgage lending, deposits, investments and more. The Credit Union also offers comprehensive insurance products and discount auto buying. Anyone living, working or owning a business in San Francisco or 7 North Bay counties, including Sonoma, Marin and Napa can benefit from membership in Redwood Credit Union, which currently serves nearly 150,000 Members with $1.7 billion in assets. RCU has 15 branch locations from San Francisco to Ukiah. For more information, please call (707) 545-4000 or 1 (800) 479-7928, or visit www.redwoodcu.org.
