Provident Bank launches personal finance program for young people with St. Stephen-St. Edward and Calvary Christian schools

WARWICK - Provident Bank’s school banking program is expanding in Orange County with the addition of St. Stephen — St. Edward School and Calvary Christian Academy in Warwick. The program provides students with hands-on education in personal finance and the banking business. St. Stephen-St. Edward School At St. Stephen-St. Edward School, 18 fifth- grade students were chosen to be bankers with their first assignment to name their new bank - “The Prophet Bank of Warwick.” Fifth grade teacher Laura McGill was named the school banking advisor. Bank Sales Associate Madeline Fitzgerald is the bank’s representative. The students were divided into three teams of six with each team having one branch manager, two tellers, one customer service representative and two marketing/PR employees. Students participating in the program include Melina Blezy, Hunter Brown, Faith Galak, Tommy Garneau, Elizabeth Goldstein, James Juliano, Bryan MacDougall, Steven Mehling, Gabrielle Miller, Taylor Nelson, Liam O’Brien, Tristan Pinkham, Quinn Riley, Tommy Scharfenberger, Sabrina Schwartz, Sarah Walker, Richie West and William Wiik. The “Prophet Bank of Warwick” held its grand opening in April. Calvary Christian Academy Calvary Christian Academy selected seven students for its bank, which is called “Kingdom Bank of Warwick.” The team includes a branch manager, two tellers, two marketing/PR employees and two customer service representatives. A second backup team of eight students was chosen with two backup students for each position. Students from fourth to eighth-grade were selected and will help train new “bankers” each year. Teacher advisors include Rosemarie Antoni, Pandy LaLumiere and Pam Myhren. Customer Service Advisor Jenny Bates is the bank’s representative. Students named to the Calvary Christian Academy banking team include Kayla Anderson, Evalyn Kim, Rachel Landru, Emily Schneider, Michael Space, Alayna Vreeland and Timothy Vreeland. Students on the backup team include Sophie Buckley, Ashley Cabrera, Elizabeth LaLumiere, Marie LaLumiere, Timothy Pietrobono, Paige Posada, Erik Schneider and Jared Smart. The school held its grand opening in early May. Interested students apply for a position and are interviewed by school advisors and bank representatives. The students are trained in their positions as managers, tellers, customer service representatives and public relations specialists. The school banks are open for one hour weekly at which time students have the opportunity to deposit money into their savings accounts. Bank representatives are on hand to assist the students as they handle transactions from their fellow classmates. “This is a great program for our students to learn about managing money and the importance of saving,” said Mary Lou Moccia, principal of St. Stephen-St. Edward School. Her colleague, Melissa Penney, Calvary Christian Academy principal, added: “It’s a unique opportunity for these young people to experience what it’s like to work in a business while learning how to save money.” The launch of school banking programs in Warwick follow the recent opening by Provident Bank of the “Golden Bank of Florida” at the Golden Hill Elementary School in Florida. The Golden Bank of Florida is an ongoing program in partnership with the school that introduces students in grades K-5 to the fundamentals of banking while linking school curriculum to the workplace.