Museum CU 4 Reality^™ Financial Education Program Expands

Spending money had never been easier then it is for today's youth. More credit is being extended to this group at a younger and younger age. Yet, far too few students learn life skills that will lead to their personal financial success.

A coalition of credit unions though America's Credit Union Museum's Financial Literacy Education Committee has designed the first ever comprehensive educational package, CU 4 Reality^™, centered on the dynamic interaction between student, educator, parent, credit unions, and business volunteers.

When America's Credit Union Museum launched its CU 4 Reality pilot program in 2004, one credit union, one school and 220 students participated. This year, fourteen credit unions or state leagues have sponsored the CU 4 Reality Program for twenty-five schools and organizations reaching 3,500 students. This brings the total number of middle and high school students who have now benefited from the program since its inception to 10,800. Nationally, the program has expanded to the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Iowa, Ohio, and California.

The first international CU 4 Reality Fair was held this year in April. The fair, sponsored by Service Credit Union, was held at the Kaiserslautern Middle School, Germany. The fair brought together many elements of the military community with the common goal of successfully providing financial education to seventh grade students.

The first international CU 4 Reality Fair was held this year in April. The fair, sponsored by Service Credit Union, was held at the Kaiserslautern Middle School, Germany.

The importance of providing financial education to our youth was evident by the number of dignitaries who attended the fair including Dr. Shirley Miles, Director, DoDEA; Dr. Nancy Bresell, Director, DoDDS-Europe; Mr. Harvey Gerry, Chief, Education Division, DoDDS-Europe. All expressed their desire to having CU 4 Reality Financial Education Fairs held around the world at DoDDS schools in the future. The Kaiserslautern Middle School Principal has already scheduled a CU 4 Realty Fair for the next school year as has the Spangdahlem Air Base Middle School.

To learn more about the CU 4 Reality Financial Education Program please go to www.cu4reality.org

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America’s Credit Union Museum (ACUM) promotes the heritage of the credit union movement through the preservation of the industry’s history. ACUM is housed in the building of the first U.S. credit union in Manchester, NH. Additional information about ACUM can be found at www.acumuseum.org.

Credit unions are not-for-profit financial cooperatives. They offer a variety of consumer financial services to 370,000 New Hampshire residents and over 85 million Americans. The New Hampshire Credit Union League represents the 28 consumer-owned credit unions in the state. For more information, please visit www.nhcul.org.

For more information, call the museum at 603-629-1553 or visit its web site at www.acumuseum.org.