Credit union branch at Merced High School first of its kind in county

It’s been said that an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. For five seniors at Merced High School, they’re gaining knowledge about both investments and interest.

Members of the newest branch of the Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union will be greeted by a staff of tellers who may be the youngest in the county. Located in a refurbished office space of Merced High School, the branch is the area’s first such on-campus location.

The credit union, which is open to school employees and students in Merced and Mariposa counties, is giving the five seniors real-world exposure to financial literacy and job skills.

After a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, 18-year-old Jamison Deuninck greeted customers during a celebration of the branch opening. For the students, the main lessons have been how to treat branch members and the responsibility of handling money.

“We treat the members as our friends, not just customers,” Deuninck said.

Deuninck and the four others – Jacob Harris, Kathryn Newby, Xochitl Soto and David Tsou – were selected from a pool of accounting students who were recommended by their teacher, Keith Petiti.

Over the summer, the five began training with the credit union, then worked at the main branch on Olivewood Drive in Merced.

“It’s a great opportunity to be able to do something like this, especially at our age,” Soto said. “You have to be very trustworthy and responsible. We get to see how the workforce is.”

The idea of the on-campus branch was born about three years ago when Joe Gaestel, the school’s department chair of business, attended a career industry day and ran into Dana Lorenzo, the credit union’s marketing manager. The two thought putting a credit union branch on campus would help students become financially literate and graduate with strong job experience.

”We were looking for ways to provide students with jobs after high school,” Gaestel said.

“Most of the kids want to be in business as their career,” Petiti said. “This is one of the few careers they can start as tellers and work their way into management.”

The branch in Room 103, which began operating in December, is open for limited time periods that allow the student employees to work during their accounting and business classes: Mondays, 8 to 9 a.m. and 12:15 to 1 p.m.; and Wednesdays, 8 to 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 1 p.m.

Supervised by a full-time credit union employee, the students can handle withdrawals, deposits, payments and transfers. Since the Merced High branch began operating, seven new accounts have been opened with the credit union, said Nancy Deavours, CEO of the credit union, which has four other branches and about 95 employees. In four days in December, the students completed 46 transactions.

“The students are fantastic,” Deavours said. “If these students are any indication of the type of students graduating from Merced High School, we have nothing to worry about in the future. They are so committed and enthusiastic.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Credit union branch at Merced High School first of its kind in county."