March 1, 2023 – The SNB Blue Devil Branch was recently featured in the ABA Banking Journal March/April 2023 edition.  The story focused on how community banks are providing financial education in schools.

In 2019, State Nebraska Bank & Trust partnered with Wayne Elementary School to open an in-school savings program known as the SNB Blue Devil Branch.  With parental permission, students in kindergarten thru 6^th grade can open a savings account at school.

This unique program is part of a state-wide effort led by the Nebraska Council on Economic Education to teach financial literacy to youth.  Currently, there are over 30 in-school savings programs operating in Nebraska and Iowa.  The SNB Blue Devil Branch was the first in-school bank in northeast Nebraska.   The goal of this program is to provide local Wayne students opportunities to learn about savings and how banks work, and to become savers themselves.

On weekly Bank Days, students can make deposits into their accounts.  The emphasis is on regular savings, not big balances.  The SNB Blue Devil Branch is open Thursday mornings in the school cafeteria to accept student deposits.  In lieu of interest, students receive incentives from State Nebraska Bank & Trust based on frequency of deposits. On the student’s first deposit, no matter when that occurs, State Nebraska Bank & Trust will deposit $5.00 into the student’s account as an incentive to participate in the program.  For more account details, click here.

The bank and school interviews students each spring to select about 24 students from 5^th & 6^th grades to work as tellers for the branch.  These student tellers are supervised by bank employees and Andi Diediker, 5^th grade math teacher and the school contact for the in-school savings program

Since the opening of the Blue Devil Branch, nearly 300 students have saved $19,000.  What a great job saving!

Click here to read the article in the ABA Banking Journal.