Younger students are taught about great saving habits by Horizon Federal Credit Union.

Cheers rang out from three hundred passionate second and third grade upon meeting Hedgie, a seven- base beautiful rabbit. The kids had only heard about how Hedgie used his wealth of financial wisdom to buy a new vehicle. Horizon Federal Credit Union organized and led the economic education council at Cochran Secondary School in Williamsport.

Hedgie Buys a Bike chronicles the adventures of Horizon’s young symbol and his desire to buy a new bike. As babies follow Hedgie along his voyage, they learn significant economic skills such as earning and saving money, earning attention from a savings accounts, budget, and making wise financial choices. The 40-page, full-color book was written privately and had Horizon staff finish the illustrations and text. The credit union is utilizing Hedgie Purchases a Bike as a tool for its financial education course, which teaches techniques like how to budget, buy a home, raise your credit score, and many other things. Horizonte promotes “education” as one of their key principles and as a means of assisting its people in having a brighter financial future.

“We wanted to build a story that would be relevant to children”, said Michael Patterson, Horizon’s Chief Branding Officer and one of the author’s participants. “Financial education is an important skill, however, one that is often taught in most schools. It’s crucial to develop good practices early in life to succeed, like with any critical skill.

The kids in presence were treated to a reading of the publication by Paige McHenry, Horizon’s Training Professional. Paige uses a variety of accents to take each personality to life. The pupils had the chance to join Hedgie and get their own copy of the book when they returned to school.

“The students actually enjoyed the system and loved meet Hedgie”, said Kristiann McQuown, a second grade teacher at Cochran. Through the text, they were given information on how to save money, and they even had the opportunity to bring a copy home with them. It was a fantastic way for our students to learn about wealth keeping.”