By Raina Burusnukul
Senior Reporter
Amarillo College will welcome its Badger $mart Education Credit Union Branch on Tuesday, August 27 from 3-5 with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. The opening event will boast a DJ, free drinks, and pizza courtesy of Soda Jerks and Regan’s Brick Oven for the first 100 attendees, light refreshments during the event, and a special Badger $mart giveaway.
Located north of Dutton Hall, on 22nd St. and Monroe, The Badger $mart branch will operate as a student-led, full-service branch, serving both students and the community with the same financial services as any other ECU retail branch.
The introduction of the branch will usher in student employment and internship opportunities, providing students with hands-on experience in the banking and finance industry and various benefits such as paid time off, paid federal holidays, and medical benefits through Care Today. Students are also eligible to maintain their positions at ECU if they choose to transfer to WTAMU and its Buff $mart branch, and beyond to ECU’s retail branches after they graduate.
The Badger $mart branch will also feature a unique badger touch from two of AC’s very own graphic Eulyssia Casias and Caileigh Johnston, who helped design the artwork embellishing the walls of the branch.
The establishment of the branch also includes the introduction of Badger $mart. Modeled after West Texas A&M University’s Buff $mart system, Badger $mart is
a financial literacy-centered
curriculum designed to educate students about money management, and encourage informed
financial decisions to improve their overall financial well-being.
Workshops and budgeting boot camps hosted by ECU’s financial coaches will be held to help students take control of their finances and better verse themselves in financial literacy, such as the Badger $mart Money Management Workshops that will be held on September 10 and November 5 from 11:45 a.m to 12:30 p.m., on the Washington Street Campus in CUB 208 – Badger Corner. Free pizza will be provided along with a Visa gift card giveaway.
Students who prefer to speak one-on-one with a financial coach to better understand and plan any of their personal budgeting, credit, retirement, or any other financial goals are welcome to call or walk into any ECU branch and speak with any of ECU’s twenty certified financial coaches. This resource is not limited to ECU members only, non-members are more than welcome to speak with any of ECU’s financial coaches to help them reach a healthier financial future.
With the introduction of Badger $mart, AC has made further strides in promoting financial literacy with its release of iGrad, an online financial wellness program designed to better educate the student body about financial literacy.
The program coaches students on how to reorient their financial goals, prepare for retirement, understand credit reports and scores, learn how to budget, buy or lease a car and many more useful financial habits through the various courses it offers. The program also offers several useful financial tools, such as its scholarship searching tool, budgeting tool, and credit score tool which helps you estimate your credit score in two minutes or less.
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