Belleview High opens student-run Vystar branch on its campus

Students, from left: Sanaya Brown, 16, a junior, Katelynn Joeles, 16, a junior, Alexis Koller, 16, a junior, Kay Parris, 16, a junior and Brien Sesler, 16, a junior, work at teller stations at the new VyStar Credit Union student run bank on campus at Belleview High School in Belleview, Fla. on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. The Guided Workplace Learning VyStar and Belleview branch has 12 students who operate the bank during 2 periods of lunch Monday thru Thursday at the school. VyStar has 18 branches located in high schools across Florida. The students also teach other students at the school about financial responsibility and planning for the future through powerpoint presentations and fliers. When students at Belleview High School become a member of the VyStar branch, they can open an account for as little as $5. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

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Posted November 1, 2021 | By: Katrina Cabansay
Special to the Gazette

Belleview High School opened the doors to its own VyStar Credit Union Branch on Monday, aiming to give hands-on financial experience to its students. Michael Rathjen, VyStar’s Vice President of School Programs, said VyStar’s partnership with the school was a “natural extension” of its relationship to the community.

“We reached out to the school district and let them know what we offer… and how we can add value to what they do,” Rathjen said. “Through conversation with the folks at the school district, as they continued to learn more about the school program, they thought it would be a great fit.”

VyStar’s High School Branch Program began in 2006, encompassing 18 high schools across eight Florida school districts and benefiting over 80,000 students with its financial training and services. A total of 1,572 paid internships have been offered through the program as well. These interns manage the branches and pass on their newfound financial expertise to their peers.

At Belleview, 12 student interns operate their new branch during their lunch period to give their peers a familiar, less intimidating figure to approach about opening bank accounts, investing, and budgeting. Belleview Principal Heather Guest said that the interns dived headfirst into their roles as peer financial leaders.

“They’ve already gone into classes and talked to them about financial literacy,” Guest said. “It’s built a tremendous amount of confidence in them. They’ve gained so much confidence in such a short amount of time, and we’re just getting started.”

The branch program supplements the Career & Technical Education marketing courses offered at Belleview, but students remain in complete control of their branch. Despite some reservations from others about students handling money and sensitive information, including Guest at first, Rathjen said that VyStar prioritizes instilling their code of ethics in their interns.

“We give them very clear expectations on how not to discuss or disclose member information,” Rathjen said. “They’re held to the same standards and held accountable the same way our team members are.”

While Rathjen said he’s eager to watch the Belleview interns gain more financial knowledge and experience, he notes that the most fulfilling part of the program is seeing how it changes the students individually.

“It comes back down to seeing the individual student become a better version of themselves,” Rathjen said. “We don’t take a cookie-cutter approach to try to make them all robots and follow script and whatnot. We really do want to bring out the best in them through the partnership.”