Children First: Financial literacy classes at EECU for teens

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- When you walk into the EECU branch at Clovis West High School, you may be greeted by teenagers.

Students like Serene Vasquez get hands-on experience at Clovis Unified's Business Financial Services Pathway.

"I'm really interested in the accounting, in the finance world," she said.

Along with cash transactions, they're improving communication and customer service skills.

"It's such a happy, helpful and healthy environment," Vasquez said.

EECU has provided work experience to 200 students since the branch opened in 2016. Student Tellers perform over 30,000 transactions per year.

"We provide students with experience and how to build a credit score, save for retirement and create a budget," says Clovis West EECU Branch Manager, Christy Alkire.

Sal Velasco graduated from the program, held several positions at EECU and is back guiding the next generation of students at the Clovis West branch.

Skylar James wants to be an attorney. She and other students in the pathway earn college credit while gaining skills that can last a lifetime.

"We learned how to do our W2s, so we had a lot of examples," she said. "We just took a test on it."

"We teach them how to file on their own so that right away, you know, as an 18, 19-year-old, they can start doing their own taxes, which is a skill that most people don't have," says CTE Banking and Finance Teacher, Joey Martinez. "We're the only school in California that has an actual full-size credit union on its campus, that has students working as actual, full-on bank tellers during the school day."

The pathway pays off for Serene. She was offered a summer job at EECU.

"I've never been employed, which would be really exciting that I get to kind of get that feel of the whole job experience," she said.

"Anything's possible when you give a student an opportunity to succeed," Alkire said.

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