MADISON — After approving an agreement with Redstone Federal Credit Union for their affinity debit cards at the last meeting, the Madison City Board of Education voted to approve another agreement with RFCU Feb. 21 that will allow for a high school branch to be established at Bob Jones High School this fall.

Nathan Lombard, senior vice president of Redstone Federal Credit Union’s schools program, explained at the Feb. 7 meeting that this experiential opportunity for students will allow them to provide basic services to customers while learning and applying valuable life skills. These school branches are also connected to another RFCU branch for support.

The students would be trained for two weeks during the summer and offer real—albeit basic—transactions with teacher oversight. These teachers are also trained. Some of their services would include deposits, cash withdrawals, check cashing, loan payments and account transfers. During this “rigorous” training, Lombard said the students also learn “soft skills” that can be applied in any field they choose.

“We know that there are a lot of mistakes made by youth when they get into the real world because they haven’t had the foundation of financial education that perhaps we did when we were growing up,” Lombard said. “It’s basically a cashless society, and they just don’t get the opportunities, so we created a program to help bridge that and to provide an education to them that they won’t get naturally that will maybe help them be better prepared when they do enter the workforce.”

Roughly 12-15 percent of high school graduates in Madison choose a path other than college after earning their diplomas. As a former employee of RFCU herself, board member Connie Spears said this student-run branch will be an “excellent opportunity” for students who are not planning on furthering their education right after graduation.

“Redstone Federal hires most of their employees—if not all of their employees—as tellers, and they work up through the ranks through the years,” Spears said. “So, if we have a student who is either not going to college or is not going to college right away, this is an excellent opportunity for them to enter directly into the workforce.”

She asserted that this branch will be a great opportunity for “all kids,” regardless of their post-graduation plans.

“I am really excited about this, and also for the students who were to go straight into the workforce, they often have a tuition reimbursement program that you can get through Redstone, and so this will open up other opportunities,” Spears added.

Any RFCU member can switch to the affinity debit cards at no extra cost. The cards will give back 10 cents to the schools with “every swipe,” regardless of purchase amount, according to LeJuan George, senior business development officer with RFCU.

Lombard said RFCU would handle the buildout once a location is chosen inside the school. The branch is projected to be operational in the fall. James Clemens High School may establish their own student-run branch as soon as next year.