Karla and Erica, in back, with Brown Deer students — both the managers and kids are sporting T-shirts from Tyrone Rhone’s Boys to Men organization.

MLK Drive branch manager Karla Lozano and Milwaukee Capitol branch manager Erica Hughes have been working with community public schools to teach students about financial literacy.

“We’ve been doing this the past two months and hope to continue for many more,” Karla reports. The managers have visited both Southeastern Education Center and Brown Deer Elementary School twice, working with about 40 seventh- and eighth-graders and 20 fifth- and sixth-graders.

They’ve discussed topics like savings, interest rates, balancing checkbooks and writing checks, and how financial choices made today have an impact on one’s options in the future. Karla says, “The first class, we played Life with them and broke down how we’d gotten into our careers, and how, when people make decisions about things they want to do, it all has to do with money.”

Karla had wanted to do more community outreach and talked to a customer, Tyrone Rhone, who is the assistant principal at Southeastern and works with Brown Deer, and who also runs a nonprofit group for underserved boys called Boys to Men. “I saw him in line at the bank and said, ‘I would really love to get together and share ideas about how we can do the kind of thing you’re trying to do,’” she says.

Tyrone connected her to the schools and helped her work out a curriculum based on North Shore Bank materials, and Erica — a former Brown Deer student herself — agreed to help teach.

“I enjoy the challenge of public speaking and the interaction,” Erica says. “I like knowing I am able to provide the students with skills that are not offered in the traditional classroom, and being able to speak to children and open their eyes to choices they can make to reach their education and career goals through planning.”

The classes so far have been well received, Tyrone says.

“Every kid really needs to learn a little more about financing, instead of spending their parents’ money,” he jokes. “The kids enjoyed it, and it was really good for them.”

Karla says that besides continuing the classes, she’s working on creating more events for children and families in the community.

“We got really good feedback from both the teachers and the students — they were very responsive,” she says. “These are kids who might not have very much support, so it’s a big deal to provide them with an idea of how to navigate what’s ahead.”