- Florida Credit Union celebrates the 25th anniversary of its student-run Bobcat Branch at Buchholz High School, offering hands-on banking experience since 2001.
- The Bobcat Branch is open before school and during lunches for students, staff, and faculty to perform transactions except loans.
- Student managers at the branch work as FCU employees and gain real-world skills, with some advancing to leadership roles at FCU.
This year, Florida Credit Union (FCU) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its student-run branch at Buchholz High School (BHS), a partnership with the school and Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) that the credit union says is centered around financial education and career readiness.
According to an FCU press release, the credit union opened the Bobcat Branch in 2001 in collaboration with BHS’s Academy of Finance (AOF). Located on the BHS campus, the branch is run by AOF students, giving them the chance to get hands-on, real-world experience while also gaining financial knowledge and professional skills.
“As a credit union, we’re always trying to give back to the community, right? And so, this is one way that we can [do that],” said Sean Peters, assistant vice president of Branch Operations at FCU’s branch on NW 43rd Street in Gainesville, who also helps oversee the Bobcat Branch. “Overall, it’s a great experience for the kids for the students.”
According to Michele Brothers, director and teacher for BHS’s Academy of Finance, the student-run branch is open for 30 minutes before school and during both lunches. During these times, she noted that anyone on campus, including students, faculty and staff, can come in and set up accounts, make deposits and withdrawals, and do transfers. Brothers said the only thing students, teachers and administrators can’t do at the student-run branch is apply for loans.
“These computers are hooked up to the Florida Credit Union, and so when they do a deposit here, it goes in just like they were doing it at one of the other branches, because this is an official branch of the Florida Credit Union,” she said.
As a FCU member herself, Brothers acknowledged the convenience of being able to do her banking at the school, especially when she is running short on time.
“I think it’s wonderful, and we have a lot of teachers that will come and bank [at the school],” Brothers said.
The Bobcat Branch is staffed by student managers and tellers. According to Peters, the five managers oversee the tellers and handle various branch operations, including balancing the vault, maintaining the cash supply and marketing. They are also authorized to open accounts.
While the tellers rotate each semester and receive volunteer hours or high school credit, Brothers said managers are considered employees of FCU.
The managers are selected through an interview process and are asked to commit at least up to two years, according to Peters.
In addition to working at the student branch, Peters said the five student managers work at his branch on NW 43rd Street three to four days a week after school as tellers.
“They work with more senior tellers, and they handle transactions just like all of the other tellers at my branch, and so they get a lot of experience dealing with the public and working on social skills …” he said.
Peters noted that FCU has had a “lot” of employees who started out as Bobcat Branch student managers and now hold leadership roles with the credit union. One of those is Sarah King, who, according to the release, “was one of the first Bobcat Branch student managers when it opened in 2001,” and now serves as the senior vice president of Human Resources & Training at FCU.
“Participating in the Academy of Finance and gaining firsthand experience through the Bobcat Branch gave me an early understanding of financial services and the importance of serving members well,” King said in the release. “The program helped prepare me for the workplace and ultimately influenced my decision to build a career with Florida Credit Union. It is especially meaningful to see FCU continue providing students with the same opportunity 25 years later.”
Jeremy Kazanis, a BHS senior, is currently involved in the AOF program and works as a teller at the Bobcat Branch. He called it a “privilege” to be able to gain hands-on work experience at school.
“Obviously, not a lot of people can [do that],” Kazanis said. “I’m grateful that I was the one chosen to be able to do it.”
Like Kazanis, Laniyah Marshall is also a senior at BHS and works as a teller at the Bobcat Branch. She, too, spoke on the opportunity to get hands-on work experience in school.
“It introduces me to stuff that I would never think about doing,” Marshall said. “I would have never thought about being a teller, but being here, it definitely opened new experiences to me.”
As for career aspirations, Kazanis said he’d like to be an electrician, while Marshall said she could see herself doing something in business.
Regardless of what career path students choose, Brothers believes they are gaining skills they will use for the rest of their lives.
“Your finances are so important to your success and well-being as an adult,” she said. “Those are the skills they’re getting. Life skills. Not just career and job skills.”
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.