SKOWHEGAN — Samantha Collins and Chelbi Garland don’t have to leave school for their jobs — they are tellers at the newest branch of Skowhegan Savings and it’s right in the high school lobby.
The branch officially opened Wednesday with bank and district administrators on hand praising the collaboration of school and business with the Somerset Career & Technical Center, next to the high school.
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“We do everything a bank branch would do — open savings accounts, checking accounts, trying to get more students to come into the bank,” Collins, a junior from Skowhegan, said. “We trained for about 60 hours over February vacation. I’m hoping to get a summer job with Skowhegan Savings and hopefully further my career.”
Teachers also will be able to open bank accounts at the school. The bank window was built between two entrances to the Elizabeth Merrill Auditorium.
Skowhegan Area High school Principal Richard Wilson said the new bank branch shows that partnerships can bring a community together.
“This is just a great example of where we need to go with education,” Wilson told the gathering Wednesday morning. “We are seen in a lot of people’s view as the school being separate from the community and this is a good example of breaking down those barriers between business and the high school. We are one community and we should be all one partnership.”
Garland, a senior from Skowhegan, said she already has learned banking skills and what a teller does every day.
“One student has opened an account already and we’re hoping to open up more accounts now that it’s officially open.”
The idea for a bank branch was hatched a couple of years ago when the school planned to launch a required financial literacy course for high school seniors, director of the career center Dave Keaton said.
He said he pitched the idea to bank President John Witherspoon and the 11th branch of Skowhegan Savings was created.
Witherspoon said Collins and Garland are paid bank employees and will have an opportunity to work at the bank this summer. The girls are working under the supervision of bank employee Adam Cichocki.
“They’re getting the experience of working for a larger business,” Witherspoon said. “They went through the interview process, they went through the training process and now they are getting specific training on teller activities and opening accounts.”
The branch is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from noon to 3 p.m.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com
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