TEFCU In-School Branch Re-opens
At Crossland High School
Earlier this month, The Pathways Schools was the catalyst for a collaboration between the Transit Employees Federal Credit Union (TEFCU), Crossland High School in Temple Hills, and
 | | Mr. Thomas, Ms. Felder and Dr. Williams prepare to cut the ribbon at the TEFCU In-School Branch re-opening ceremony |
Pathways. The result was the re-opening of an in-school credit union branch that will benefit students from Crossland as well as Pathways. The in-school branch was the first of its kind in Prince George's County when it opened at Pathways' program located within Crossland High School in 2009. At that time, the in-school branch was the outcome of a partnership between TEFCU and Pathways. Its goals were to teach and promote fiscal responsibility and financial literacy, to encourage students to open and maintain savings accounts, and to provide career training. The effort was so successful that last year Pathways honored TEFCU with our Community Partner of the Year Award.
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Student teller at work
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For the past two and a half years, Pathways students have been teller interns and student branch managers, receiving training and ongoing supervision from TEFCU liaisons and teachers. Now as a result of a partnership between Pathways and Crossland High School, students from Crossland will work with Pathways students at the branch. The students will attend job shadowing days at the central TEFCU branch and will have the option of pursuing summer internships and post-graduation employment opportunities. The partnership with TEFCU also means that Crossland and Pathways have access to speakers and presenters on money management and other relevant topics, as well as a source for financial literature and other educational materials.
The re-opening ribbon cutting ceremony and luncheon
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Ms. Felder awarding scholarships
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reception were presided over by retiring TEFCU President and Board Member Ms. Percys Felder. Ms. Felder was instrumental in forging the partnership with Pathways and serves as TEFCU liaison and mentor for the in-school branch program. She awarded scholarships to the two Pathways seniors who are the branch manager and assistant manager. The event was also attended by TEFCU President/CEO Rita Smith, Crossland High School Principal Mr. Charles Thomas, Pathways Executive Director/CEO Dr. Helen Williams, Pathways Crossland Re-Entry Principal Mr. Newton Lennon, and Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker.
 | Student assistant manager Javon Wright,
Dr. Williams, Ms. Felder, student branch manager Stephon Tucker, and Mr. Baker |
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Living Classroom
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Springville students Catherine Tschiffeley, Nathaniel Lee and
Chris Luwaan prepare to haul a net on the Living Classrooms boat.
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In keeping with Pathways-Springville's fourth quarter goal to go "beyond the books", this month 20 students and nine staff boarded a boat and traveled down the Potomac River to see and experience first-hand the ecosystems of Washington's coastal waters. The trip was part of Living Classrooms, a shipboard education program. While the
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Catherine, Vantrice Poteat and Nathaniel examine specimens in the boat's lab.
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students enjoyed sailing past the new Nationals ballpark, a retired Navy ship and the bridges spanning the Potomac, this was no leisurely cruise. The students were busy taking water samples and analyzing organisms under the microscope, raising nets to discover a variety of fish and taking turns steering the ship.
Perhaps the day's most exciting moment became content for history class rather than science. As the group was driving to the pier, they saw the space shuttle Discovery on its last voyage atop a jumbo jet as it was taken to its museum home near Dulles airport. The jet was flying low and slowly and made two passes over the thrilled students.
Upon returning to the Springville campus, the journalism class wrote articles for the newspaper, the science class completed the lab analysis and reports on their observations, the history class drafted a proposal to Congress to expand funding for private school field trips, and a video of the whole experience was prepared and edited for a school-wide viewing.
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