RISD has partnered with the Credit Union of Texas to open a SMART bank branch at Berkner High School and STEM Academy in the fall, as the school district continues to provide real-world experiences and hands-on training for life after graduation.
The working bank branch will be the third such overall and first in Dallas County. There will be about two dozen students who work in the branch, and upon completion of a one-year program, each student will receive a $1,000 scholarship from CUTX.
CUTX Chief Marketing Officer Eddie Army said the SMART branch allows students to gain an understanding of servant leadership while motivating them into active learning with inherent lessons in reasoning and technology use.
It’s a real-world banking experience that increases financial literacy for all students that align to the RISD Graduate Profile as well as the state’s TEKS guidelines.
Berkner will provide the space that CUTX will build out while providing all the supplies, marketing, and technology needed to run the branch. As the partnership grows, RISD expects to have students from all grade levels and every learning community visit the branch at Berkner.
Trustee Eric Eager said this partnership aligns with the board’s objectives for student outcomes and also meets mandates from the community regarding increased financial literacy.
