BEAUMONT, Texas–– Education First Federal Credit Union won second place in the Cornerstone region of CUNA’s Desjardins Youth Financial Education Award and the Dora Maxwell Award for Social Responsibility. Education First FCU will now move on to the national round of awards.
Education First FCU received the Desjardins Award for the C.A.F.E. Secret Agent Training Module. The C.A.F.E. Secret Agent Training Module is modeled after Education First FCU’s youth savings program, and has been designed in conjunction with elementary administrators and curriculum directors to ensure that it meets the 5th grade TEKS requirements for personal ¬financial literacy. These workbooks cover various topics from saving and spending, to budgeting and vocabulary building. In 2019, this workbook was adopted into the curriculum of 14 school districts in Southeast Texas and was in the hands of 3,315 students. Education First FCU is currently preparing to send out workbooks for the 2020-2021 school year.
Education First FCU also received the Dora Maxwell Award for the Imelda Educators' Relief Fund. The Imelda Educators’ Relief Fund was created by Education First FCU in partnership with the Beaumont Enterprise and 12News to allow teachers whose classrooms were flooded by Tropical Storm Imelda to apply to receive supplies for their classrooms. This fund raised over $8,200 and provided supplies for over 70 teachers in Beaumont ISD, Hamshire-Fannett ISD, LCM-CISD and Monsignor Kelly High School.
"We are grateful for our partnership with Education First, which continues to grow each year. Our students utilized 1500 C.A.F.E Secret Agent Training Module workbooks last year and we have requested more than 1200 for this school year," said Beaumont ISD Superintendent Dr. Shannon Allen. "Through the Imelda Educators' Relief Fund, staff from Pietzsch-MacArthur, Beaumont United and a few other campuses were able to receive valuable assistance to rebuild their classrooms. Education First remains a valuable partner in supporting the Beaumont ISD. I am thankful for their continued efforts to ensure the success of our students."