Sleepy Hollow fi fth-grader Hayden Brillhart remembers the 

exact day he knew he wanted to be a banker… A Happy State Bank 

Kids’ Bank Banker, that is. “It was the fi rst Thursday of the second 

six weeks of third grade,” grins Hayden. 

Hayden’s enthusiasm for the Happy State Bank Kids’ Bank 

program is shared by many at his school. “All this week, we were 

counting down the days until Kids’ Bank,” he says. “On Monday we 

looked at the calendar and said, ‘Three days. C’mon, Thursday!’”

Fifth-graders like Hayden can apply to become the school’s 

“bankers.” They even visit the downtown branch of Happy State 

Bank for a tour and interview. Student bankers are trained in how 

to handle money, fi ll out a deposit slip and be a vault when it 

comes to their clients’ privacy.

With the student bankers in place, adult bankers from Happy 

State set up shop in Sleepy Hollow every Thursday in a makeshift 

bank façade. One by one, students from each grade patiently wait 

in line to make their deposits. “It is a true savings account,” says 

Happy State Bank Assistant Vice President Christy Heuston.

Students receive monthly bank statements and take the 

responsibility of depositing and saving money very seriously, says 

Christy. “For some of them, it’s so important that if they forget 

their money, they may dig in their backpack and bring us fi ve 

cents to deposit. We tell them that’s still saving money. It counts.”

Happy State runs Kids’ Bank at more than a dozen AISD schools. 

Some of them have been in business long enough to have students 

who’ve converted their kindergarten savings account into a college 

checking account. 

Hayden can see that in his own future. “I think it’s awesome 

because middle school is right around the corner and it’s time to 

start being more independent,” he says. “All these little opportunities 

we have are leading to success.”

If Willy Wonka’s candy factory were instead an art studio, it would 

probably look just like the art room at Carver Elementary Academy. 

“They come here and feel like they’re in another world,” says art 

teacher Julie Baker. “When I fi rst got here, it was just blue walls.” 

Now the room is a literal rainbow of colors, textures and creativity. 

Every Carver student comes here once a week to let loose and 

express themselves. “We hardly ever use crayons,” explains Julie. 

“By the time they leave here, they’ve touched every art medium 

there is.”

A classroom collaborative in clay provided an array of glazed 

bowls and platters for the school’s art auction. Students in each class 

crafted individual elements that were put together to create a single 

piece of pottery representing the entire classroom.

“We made strips of clay and rolled them up into little balls and then 

stuck them together and built it up to the height we wanted,” explains 

fi fth-grader Avery Roden of the pencil holder his class made.

Fifth-grader Samuel Burrell is especially proud of the tray created 

in his class. “I like that it has lots of texture,” he says. 

“I really like that it’s a part of everybody,” adds fi fth-grader Journey 

Wilson.

But most of all, they just like art. “There are really no rules for 

what you can do,” fi fth-grader Alia Hernandez sums it up. “I really 

love art.”

Banking On Their Futures: Kid’s Bank at Sleepy Hollow

Beyond the Crayons: Art at Carver Elementary Academy

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