IQ Credit Union and Battle Ground High School celebrated a grand reopening, on Thursday, Jan. 11, for the campus branch, which provides students with not only a career pathway but important life skills.
Battle Ground High School is one of several high schools that IQ Credit Union partners with and offers a financial operations class.
“Once we open, my main goal is for the kids to work the window and interact, talk to people, be the first one to speak,” said Kevin Weeks, business and marketing teacher at Battle Ground High School.
The class offers students an opportunity to learn several different aspects of the financial industry during a full semester, Weeks added. Students also have the opportunity to apply for an internship that is paid for by the credit union.
“And I tell kids all the time, an internship with the credit union, you don’t ever have to ask, ‘Do you want fries with that, paper or plastic?’ ” Weeks said. “You don’t go home smelling like fast food or popcorn or anything else, and it pays a little bit better than minimum wage. They work with your school schedule. The opportunity to meet people and make connections within our community is pretty wide because not only are you interacting with your coworkers and other people from the credit union, but you have all those community members that are using that financial institution.”
The campus branch at Battle Ground High School recently added new carpet and shifted the bank teller’s counter to better face the doorway. Student tellers at the school are only able to do simple banking transactions.
“So the students are trained to do the transactions, help the members. They are able to do cash withdrawals and cash deposits and check deposits. They can answer questions, and then they also talk to students and staff about how to open an account and become a member with IQ,” Molly Wilson, of IQ Credit Union, said.
