About Financial Literacy

Since 2013, Pheple FCU has been steadily growing and developing our Partners in Learning Program, which is a unique interactive program designed to educate students of all ages on the importance of saving, money management, and developing healthy financial habits that they can use throughout their entire life. The program includes opportunities from Kindergarten through college through various steps that follows students from our Save Day Program in the elementary schools to our high school student branches. We call this process Pheple FCU’s Path to Financial Literacy and it reaches students throughout their entire educational experience and beyond.

Save Day Programs

Pheple FCU currently partners with 18 local schools to help educate their student body, including over 1400 of Pheple FCU’s youth members. Each student is invited to take part in different steps along the Path of Financial Literacy regardless of their membership status. Learn More

High School and Cash Stash Student Branches

In high school, students have more opportunities to learn about Financial Literacy. Teachers can request Pheple FCU’s Financial Literacy Team to guest speak in their class; programs offered feature a wide variety of financial topics from managing savings and checking accounts, to the difference between credit unions vs. banks, to credit reports or financial fraud.

Student Branches are another tool that helps prepare high school students for the future.  Pheple FCU currently has three student branches, the Warrior Cash Stash in Penn Trafford High School, the Kiski Area Cash Stash at Kiski Area High School, and the Centurion Cash Stash in Greensburg Central Catholic High School. This allows students within each high school to engage with their peers to learn about finances, credit unions, and utilizing tools that are offered by financial institutions. Our student branches are open to students during lunch time for a convenient and reliable experience. Since the opening of our first student branch in 2013, our student branches have employed 20 high school students to run and market our student branches. These students are provided with a unique opportunity to learn about the financial industry, build their own person finance abilities, learn about the credit union movement, learn about the professional work force by working in both the student branches and our public Pheple FCU branches, and developing employment skills that can be used for life. Many of our student tellers stay on staff and come back to work summers or holiday breaks. We strive to give each student teller the support and encouragement to succeed in whatever their next step may be. Our many success stories include our first-ever student teller, Matt, who is now the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of our organization.

Student Branches

Learn more about how our Student Branches fit into our larger Path to Financial Literacy.

Our Student Credit Union Branches are fully functioning credit union locations where high school students are employed to serve the financial needs of fellow students. Students who join become members of Pheple FCU and can enjoy checking, savings, and loan products specially designed for them.

By joining your Student Credit Union Branch you become a part-owner of Pheple FCU with other members. Credit unions pay profits back to account holders, so you’ll earn more for your savings and pay less to use the services.

Extra Credit Savings Accounts

Borrowing money should be a well-thought-out plan. When you make your credit union the first stop, you’ll be better prepared to make those big decisions and get the most for your hard-earned money.

Cha-Ching! Saver Club

Pheple FCU’s Cha-Ching! Teen Saver’s Club is designed for teens between the ages of 11 and 17 years old. This club allows teens to learn the basics of saving, spending and budgeting.

Save Day

A “Save Day” is a designated day for students to deposit into their Cha-Ching! Account at school. If the student completes all eight months of the school program the credit union will deposit a bonus into their account!

The Vault by Pheple FCU

We are excited to continue to grow our Path to Financial Literacy in 2020 with the expansion of our program into the college setting and the opening of our newest branch, The Vault by Pheple FCU, located at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, Pennsylvania. Opened in February 2020, this new location extends the Path beyond high school and serves as a bridge into adulthood. This full-service branch is completely staffed by college interns, providing real-life experience to young adults getting ready to enter the workforce. After graduation, students still have the opportunity to expand their financial knowledge with events such as Pheple FCU’s Student Lending, Homebuyer, and IRA Seminars.

Financial Literacy Events

Each year, we host several annual events that emphasize the importance of financial literacy to students along various steps of their educational journey.

Community Events

Pheple FCU encourages community involvement for our financial literacy programming as well. Events and fundraisers during the year such as seasonal raffle tickets, Food Truck Round-Ups, Breakfast with Santa, and Breakfast with the Easter Bunny provide opportunities for the community to support and learn about our programs and the impact they make on today’s youth. We work directly with youth outside of the school setting at events such as local Halloween Trunk or Treats, the Health and Safety Fair at Westmoreland Mall, and visiting local Girl Scout Troops.

Current School Partnerships

We are currently partnered with 22 local schools:

• Kiski Area School District

  • Kiski Area High School

  • Kiski Area Intermediate School

  • Kiski Area Upper Elementary

  • Kiski Area East Primary

  • Kiski Area North Primary

  • Kiski Area South Primary

• Penn-Trafford School District

  • Penn-Trafford High School

  • Penn Middle School

  • Trafford Middle School

  • Sunrise Elementary

  • Level Green Elementary

  • Harrison Park Elementary

  • McCullough Elementary

  • Trafford Elementary

• Jeannette City School District

  • Jeannette-McKee Elementary School

• Diocese of Greensburg

  • Greensburg Central Catholic High School

  • Greensburg Central Catholic Junior High

  • Aquinas Academy

  • Mother of Sorrows School

  • Mary, Queen of Apostles

  • Queen of Angels

• Westmoreland County Community College

Our Financial Literacy Team also speaks by teacher request in several other local school districts. If you would like to talk more about how we can partner with your school, please email school@pheplefcu.org or call our Manager of Financial Literacy at (724) 261-3641.

Pheple FCU won the 2020 CrossState Credit Union Association Leaders in Financial Literacy Award. Please click below to read our award-winning submission about our Path to Financial Literacy.