Bank Branch Opens Up at Herndon Middle School

HERNDON, Va. - At age 14, Michael Chen is already working as a bank manager.

"My role is to organize all of the other bank members," said Chen.

His co-workers are his classmates. The bank they work for is right in Herndon Middle School.

"It makes you think about interest rates and all the different things that go into economics," said Chen.

Cardinal Bank opened up a branch at the school about four weeks ago. They said their mission is to reinforce the importance of financial literacy and budgeting.

"You don't have to look further than the economic challenges we face where people have been upside down and not saving enough," said Cardinal Bank president Kevin Reynolds.

The young managers and tellers are handling real money and real accounts connected to any branch of Cardinal Bank. In fact, the student accounts get a higher interest rate than regular accounts.

"At the end of the day, I go and audit what we have and make sure everything is correct," said Chen.

Principal Justine Klena said the fact they are already learning about money in math and social studies classes makes this a perfect fit.

"It's an opportunity to apply the things they are learning in a real life setting," said Justine Klena.

At Herndon Middle School, they have opened about a dozen accounts since the bank opened. Eventually, Cardinal Bank wants to have each one of their 26 branches open up a branch in a school.