Banking On Learning, How it All Works

We love a day that starts by loading into the vans. That means we are headed on a field trip somewhere. For day two of Mini-Society Day Camp that means a field trip about laws and money.

We started the day in the courtroom of District Judge Judith Daniels. As we listened to the court calendar being called the youth had a chance to see how a real courtroom (not the one on Law and Order) works. We then travelled through the back halls and down to the basement where we met the magistrate who told us about legal ages, and that youth can be locked up if they disobey the law. From there were were introduced to Lieutenant Kathy Torry with the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. She heads up the juvenile division. She told our youth that everyday they get phone calls about youth who are not listening to their parents and end up getting locked up. She warned the youth the best way to stay out of trouble is to listen to your parents and to be a part of organizations like 4-H.

From the Lt.'s office we headed back to the holding cells. In the basement of the Courthouse are cells to hold prisoners for their first appearance or other court dates. When they are transported from the jail this is where they stay until it is their turn in the courtroom. Our youth spoke with a young women who was in the holding cell. She encouraged them to listen to their parents and think before they do things. In her tearful pleas told them jail was never a place they wanted to be and they needed to make sure they made good decisions so they would never be there.

Our youth were then whisked upstairs to Superior Court. Judge Carter let the youth listen to a plea of a 16 year old who had broken into a home. As part of his probation, he has to pay for the damage he caused during the break in and has to stay in school, get good grades, and listen to his mother. If he does not do all of those things and stay out of trouble he could end up in jail. The sentence was a real eye opener for our youth. Judge Carter also took the time to talk with our day campers and tell them that the most important thing that they can do right now is get an education, because that is the building block for their entire life. Our youth listened intently and thanked the Judge for his time.

After all of that we were famished so we hit the dusty trail that lead to Pizza Inn. There we enjoyed a buffet lunch and talked about what we learned in the courthouse. After digesting our lunch we headed towards the money.

The State Employees Credit Union hosted us for a brief tour and introduction to banking credit union style. Instead of calling their organization a bank, it is called a credit union and the customers are members. We learned all sorts of things about the different positions they have at the credit union, how they count money, and that the very best job at the credit union is that of Fat Cat. As a matter of fact Fat Cat, the credit union mascot toured with us, hugged our youth and was even invited home with many of them. After leaving Ms. Janice and the other nice employees at the Credit Union we headed towards the office.

After returning back to the office the youth settled in to their routine. They received their "bucks" for the day and made plans to open their businesses on Wednesday. Stay tuned for more fun and information as we continue on with our wonderful project of learning.