M&T Bank employees are going into classrooms to teach what they know. They will be teaching elementary, middle and high school students about effectively using money. Nearly 60 volunteers will teach in classrooms at 42 schools across three states, expecting to reach almost 2,000 students. They are participating in the 13th annual "Teach Children to Save Day" today, with classes continuing next week. The national observance focuses on students learning everything from saving for their much-wanted electronic devices and learning how prices change over time to spending wisely.

M&T employees will join thousands of bankers across the country visiting local schools tomorrow, April 21, as part of the American Bankers Association Education Foundation's National Teach Children to Save Day, a financial literacy program established in 1997.

Volunteers will present lessons on balancing checkbooks, budgeting and much more. They are role models in the classroom and their presence offers examples of professional success as well as commitment to the community.

"The national goal is to reach one million children through this program this year, and we expect a domino effect from that effort. When one child learns a useful saving strategy and shares it with another or one student takes a new, money game home to share with the family, we have achieved our mission. In each case, learning a smart money tactic is advanced beyond one child," said M&T Bank President Mark Czarnecki.

  M&T volunteers are teaching students in the following schools:

  New York

  Edmeston Central School, Edmeston
  Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School, Binghamton
  Children's School #15, Rochester (4/17)
  Walt Disney Elementary School, Gates (4/29)
  Union East Elementary School, Cheektowaga
  Pembroke Primary School, Pembroke
  Beekman Elementary School, Poughquag


  Pennsylvania

  Samuel B. Huey School, Philadelphia
  Theodore Roosevelt Middle School, Philadelphia
  West Beaver Elementary, McClure
  Everett Elementary, Altoona
  Ringtown Elementary, Ringtown
  Liberty Elementary, Liberty
  Camp Curtin Elementary, Harrisburg
  North East Bradford School, Rome
  Our Lady of the Angels, Columbia
  Pequea Elementary School, Willow Street
  Taylor Elementary School, Columbia
  Harry S. Truman Elementary, Allentown
  Loucks Elementary, York
  Eshelman Elementary, Millersville
  Maytown Elementary, Maytown
  Clearview Elementary, Hanover
  Cornwall Terrace, Sinking Springs
  Hayshire Elementary, York
  Ross Elementary, Lancaster
  St. John the Baptist, Altoona
  Choconut Valley Elementary, Friendsville
  Edgar Moore Elementary, Red Lion
  East Freedom Elementary, East Freedom
  Wrightsville Elementary, Wrightsville
  Spring Grove Elementary, Spring Grove
  New Salem Elementary, York
  Paradise Elementary, Thomasville
  Corpus Christi School, Chambersburg


  Maryland

  Langston Hughes Elementary, Baltimore
  Lansdowne Elementary, Baltimore County (4/29)
  Annapolis High School, Annapolis (4/30)
  Clear Spring Middle School, Clear Spring
  Accident Elementary School, Accident
  Yough Glades, Oakland
  Hancock Elementary, Hancock

The bank offers the following tips to help parents promote good saving habits:

  --  It is never too early to start teaching children to value money
      managing skills.
  --  Getting a young child a piggy bank is a good start.
  --  Look for lessons that are inherent in grocery shopping.
  --  Saving on energy, by turning off lights, equals financial savings as
      well.
  --  Teach the importance of balancing a checkbook to keep track of
      spending.

The ABA Education Foundation's National Teach Children to Save Day is held every April, giving bankers an opportunity to address the importance of saving with children across the country.

M&T Bank serves customers in more than 680 branches in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.