Community Trust Credit Union Teaches Kindergarteners
"It's Fun To Earn and Save Money"

(Wadsworth, IL May 28, 2007) Teachers know that the best way to help children learn is to get them excited about the subject matter and provide them with strong visual and audio lessons they will remember in the future. That's exactly what the financial experts from Community Trust Credit Union's did during a recent visit with five- and six-year-olds at Millburn Elementary School. The visit was the latest of a series of local learning initiatives conducted by Community Trust in cooperation with "Junior Achievement".

"We provided Ms. Polenzani's kindergarten class received a real-world glimpse of the importance of earning, saving and spending money wisely," said Community Trust's Chief Administrative Officer Lynne Timmerman, who explained their goal for the day was to help the children learn to save and spend money wisely. "We provided the youngsters with a worksheet listing items they might buy at a store, and helped them place coin stickers totaling the amount of each purchase."

"I especially enjoyed hearing how they earned money by doing extra chores at home and what they might be saving for - like a toy or candy. One child said he saves for college, which was pretty amazing for a six-year-old!" recalled Timmerman. "But the most heartwarming story came from child who saved up money to buy a present for a friend's birthday. Everyone agreed that it feels good to save up for something special and then buy it with your own hard-earned money."