May 20, 2019 | Samuel Spears & Ryan Stich | EPHS - Teller/Marketing Intern
Just a few weeks back, we had the amazing opportunity to have our very own Congressman, Dean Phillips, come into our student-run office at Eden Prairie High School. We gave the Congressman a tour, talked about a few topics that our students are passionate about, and gave a presentation on the ins and outs of our office.
Present with the Congressman was Royal CEO Brandon Riechers, Chairman of the Board John Sackett, VP of Organization Agility Jan Johnson, Eden Prairie Superintendent Josh Swanson, and a handful of others! We started off with a PowerPoint on our big TV that explained a little bit more about our office in the school and the services we offer in the school. We went through the process on how students and staff use our services, the benefits of banking with a Credit Union, and what a regular day is like in our office. Our financial literacy programming was the thing we were most excited to share. Our student-run credit union allows us to engage with the student body in and outside of the school and helps us as we think of creative ways to make financial literacy fun. We do interactive presentations at all grade levels and incentivize students to save and learn. We actually give students a coupon for two free cookies with every deposit they make!
It was amazing getting the opportunity to share what we do with the people in attendance. Everything we do in the office truly reflects our mission statement and core values. After the presentation, the six of us student team members continued the tour by showing Congressman Phillips all of the different areas of the room including the teller line, the big table we have for students to come in and do homework, the white board we utilize for engaging financial trivia and games, and the hang out area where students can meet and do projects in a casual environment. We walked through a typical transaction and asked him trivia questions and gave out candy, similar to what we do every day. We finished the presentation by having current students share what political issues matter most to them. Some of the topics discussed were college tuition, school safety, and financial literacy requirements.
The experience of interacting with professionals and law makers such as Congressman Phillips, Mr. Riechers, Mr. Sackett, and everyone else was so valuable and we feel so appreciative to have the opportunity to share our amazing student-run office with them. My colleague Samuel Spears and I both had the opportunity to be Political Advocacy Interns at Royal and worked directly with Jennifer McHugh, Royal’s Director of Political Advocacy and Financial Education so this was such a great way to end the internship. We are so thankful to everyone who came out as well as the opportunities we have been given as student Tellers and Marketing Interns.
