ALPENA, Mich.– Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union (AAACU) recently hosted a Financial Reality Fair for more than 250 eighth grade students at Thunder Bay Junior High (TBJH).
AAACU has partnered with TBJH for the last four years, providing this educational opportunity to teach students the importance of budgeting and saving money. This year AAACU said it was able to bring the students a new format for the event through a mobile app. Within the app the students were able to select from various careers listed and then based on their career choice students were assigned a starting salary, a credit score, and a small savings account balance. The students then visit lifestyle stations that focus on expenses in life such as housing, transportation, clothing, and food that they would need to fit within their monthly budget.
In addition, students that selected careers that required college degrees were faced with student loans that impacted their monthly budget.
Separately, Alpena Alcona Area CU celebrated the 25-year partnership with Alcona Community Schools. IN 1994, AAACU opened the Tiger Branch, its first student-run branch. It has since opened a second branch, the Owl’s Next, inside Oscoda Area Schools, and will a third branch inside Alpena High School this year.