Nebraska Council on Economic Education Dr. Jennifer Davidson, President 730 N. 14th Street, HLH 525-G Lincoln, NE 68588-0404 (402) 472-2333 | Hershey State Bank Anna Stacy, Vice President/Branch Manager Ann Maassen, Asst. Vice President 100 S Lincoln Ave Hershey, NE 69143 (308) 368-5555 | Hershey Public Schools Jared Thomsen, Elementary Principal Cynthia Elliott, 7-12 Business Teacher 301 S Lincoln Ave Hershey, NE 69143 cynthia.elliott@hpspanthers.org (308) 368-5572 |
Hershey State Bank and Hershey Public Schools have joined together to open the Hershey Panther Branch of Hershey State Bank for students in grades K-6! Our first day of business will be Thursday, February 24, 2022 with the branch open every Thursday morning thereafter, for students to make deposits into their own savings account. Hershey State Bank will match any deposit up to $5 made on opening day (February 24th)!
A school branch fits perfectly with Hershey State Bank’s philosophy of educating children on the importance of saving so they are better prepared to handle their finances in the future.
What does all this mean to you and your child? Your student will now be able to open a savings account, with your permission, and start saving towards short- and long-term goals they have like a new toy, iPod, a car, or even college.
The Hershey Panther Branch is a unique setup and is only active at Hershey Public Schools. Some important things to note about the branch are:
All money deposited will be under one large school account, however, information about each child’s deposits will be maintained separately.
Withdrawals from this account will not be allowed at school until the child graduates 6th grade or leaves the school.
Withdrawals and deposits to the child’s account will not be allowed at Hershey State Bank
When a child leaves our school, or graduates 6th grade, a check will be issued for their balance in the account.
The branch will be open each Thursday to accept student deposits.
Each student will have their own ledger to record their deposits. These will be maintained at the school and will not go home with the student.
In lieu of interest, children receive incentives provided by Hershey State Bank.
The goal of this program is to provide our students the opportunities to not only learn about savings and how financial institutions operate, but to also become savers themselves. We are building a community of economists here at Hershey Public Schools and want your child to become a savvy saver.
A Parent Permission Slip will be coming home on Friday, January 28, 2022. If interested, please complete and send back to school.
History of the Program:
The In-School Savings Program officially began in 2002 with the opening of the
inaugural Bank /School partnership at Omaha Public School's Conestoga Elementary
and Wells Fargo Bank in Omaha. However, the true start to that program was well
before that with a year of planning and coordination between Conestoga, UNO Center
for Economic Education, and Wells Fargo Bank leaders.
The program began as an idea to form a unique partnership within the community and
school and get young children involved in lifelong financial habits. Each partner brought
ideas for not only creating the working bank but sharing lessons that the school faculty
could teach to support the saving accounts students would establish in the weekly bank
opening. Instead of working with play money, students would be able to start saving
early and see possible future careers in the financial world. The bank staff and
students interacting weekly would give all partners benefits long into the future.
Since 2002 we have continued to open banks across the state of Nebraska forever
changing the lives of students by instilling in them the knowledge and empowerment to
begin a financial plan and save.