On two separate business days in December, six classes of Richfield Intermediate School 3rd graders toured Richfield Bloomington Credit Union's Richfield office. The students visited the various credit union departments and learned about the daily operations of a financial institution.

"We've done these kinds of tours for interested teachers and students for years," said André Thibault, AVP of Marketing at RBCU, "but we've never had so many kids come at once before."

Approximately 200 students took part in the tours. Three simultaneous groups were shown presentations or taken to credit union departments and watched credit union staff in action. A visit to the branch vault, the ability to handle money of every denomination, an up-close look at functioning coin counting machines, and a display of the drive-up teller vacuum tubes were the highlights for most of the students.

Thibault was happy that the credit union could help to further the students' understanding. "The staff here love getting tours of students of any age," he began, "but we've found that 3rd graders seem to be a group that is just 'old enough' to really start grasping money management concepts. They're really excited by everything around them and it is a lot of fun watching them channel that attitude towards what the credit union does."

For informaiton school tours at the credit union, contact André Thibault at 612-798-7100.

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