Sara Luther Hagerman gives a presentation to one of the third-grade classes at Giese Elementary.

The Westgate branch visited Racine’s Giese Elementary School on April 16, to teach the 60 third-graders there about basic money management. Area Branch Manager Sara Luther Hagerman kicked things off with a lesson about separating money into “buckets” for spending, short-term saving and long-term saving, and about how quickly saving can make a difference.

Sara pulled double duty at Giese, putting on the Seymour costume after giving her presentation. Only one of the three classes figured out it was her in there!

Universal Banker Tara Strom took over next and helped the students make North Shore Bank banks and complete some worksheets. Then Teller Jessica Cranley invited each kid up to play the Scoop & Save game. Seymour Savings also visited all three third-grade classrooms, and students received materials to take home and share with their parents.

Since then, one family has visited the bank to open a Seymour Savings kids account. The third-graders sent a thank-you note, and teachers shared their appreciation for the visit, since cuts in funding have limited extracurricular activities — this made for a great “in-house” field trip.

Sara and Jessica pose for a group shot with some of the Giese students, who made a surprise trip to the bank to say thank you on May 8!

“I won’t lie,” says Sara. “We had a ton of fun. And the teachers enjoyed having us, and the kids had a blast too.”