Project SEARCH Opportunity Works takes place on the campus of Northern Essex Community College over a 9-month period. Participants begin and end each day with work readiness classes covering topics like job interviews, résumé writing, teamwork, professionalism, and technology in the workplace. In between the classroom learning, students spend their time interning in different Northern Essex departments. Over the course of the school year, students intern for three months in each of three different departments which range from YMCA Day Care, NECC Police Department, Public Health Response Team, Student Life, Perfect Blend Café & much more!

During NECC’s spring break, OW ProjectSEARCH welcomed guest speakers to learn more information about life skills and personal finance. Opportunity Works board member, Heather Harrell, gave an extremely informative presentation on the basics of banking to the current ProjectSearch interns. On the heals of learning keys terms in their classroom prior to the presentation, the interns were well prepared with questions. Some questions included:

 “Can you see how much is in your account if you have a banking app on your phone?”
“What is the difference between a debit and a credit card?”
“Do you write on the back of a check?”

This facilitated an even more open conversation about banking, and really helped drive the presentation as Heather had all the bases covered (see Objectives).

At the end of the presentation were the key takeaways to the basics of banking and should be reminders for everyone!

• Ask for help; ask questions
• Do not sign anything you do not understand
• Ask for written information to take home to review
• Use a “Choosing a Bank and Bank Account Checklist”

Thank you to Heather Harrell for your visit and a wonderful presentation, and good luck to OW ProjectSearch Class of 2023 on your final semester of internships!