Clovis Unified partnership with credit union creating new branch and opportunities for students

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A partnership between a Valley credit union and Clovis Unified is creating a brand new facility for business and education at Clovis West High School.

Monday morning leaders with Clovis Unified and Educational Employees Credit Union toured the site of a first of a kind project. The new branch for EECU will be the first in the state to be built from the ground up on a school campus.

"I think one of the things that we always strive for in Clovis, is having that business partnership with the schools. And what excites me about it, is it's an opportunity for our kids to actually work in a bank and be trained by a true bank and finance community partnership," said Dr. Marc Hammock, Clovis West High School Principal.

In addition to a full-service bank, the new branch will also feature a conference room, classroom, student store and an ATM. Twenty-eight Students have signed up for finance related courses this fall at the branch. Some students will work as bank tellers and will receive 80 hours of training this summer.

Officials with EECU are excited to have two employee tellers and a loan officer on site to work with the students.

"The credit union was founded on a school site at Edison, and so education has been a part of our DNA since 1934. So it is a nice fit for us," said Mark Perez, Educational Employees Credit Union.

Clovis West High School received $3-million in state grants and district funding for the project.

In addition to receiving high school credits to graduate students have the opportunity to receive college credit for some course work, and could be hired later as an employee for the credit union.

"We heard about this. My parents thought it was a good idea, and I thought it was a good idea because it was more like hands on experience and you would have more opportunities as you go on," said Brittney Medina, Clovis West High School student.

The new facility will be open and ready for the public and students to use by mid-August.