WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –– On the morning of June 24, summer school was about more than reading, writing and arithmetic for students at Greater Lafayette area high schools.

Students at Lafayette Jefferson, William Henry Harrison, and McCutcheon high schools received a visit from Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU) President and CEO Bob Falk and New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees. The visit included a presentation about Visa’s Financial Football program, an interactive money management game designed to teach students important money management skills.

PEFCU President and CEO Bob Falk, and New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees talk to Lafayette Jefferson High School students about financial responsibility.

“Today’s event is a very important program – one that I wish I had been exposed to when I was your age,” said Brees. “Not enough kids leave high school with the right knowledge to manage their finances and today’s kids have even more responsibilities at a younger age than I did.”

PEFCU believes the best way to tackle today’s economic crisis and to defend against future challenges is by arming students with knowledge and skills to successfully manage their finances. Through Financial Football students learn about assets and liabilities, savings and interest, advantages and disadvantages of credit and debit cards, and how to create a budget or spending plan.

“Whether these students join the workforce or attend college after high school graduation, their success depends upon their ability to manage their finances,” said Bob Falk, PEFCU president and CEO. “At PEFCU, we’re committed to helping our youth reach their potential.”

PEFCU works with local schools and organizations to teach money management skills to area youth throughout the year. For more information about ways PEFCU can help your organization or school meet its financial literacy goals, please contact Kristy Robb at 765.497.7442.

EVANSTON, Ill. — Today National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC)
announced the names of 2,500 distinguished high school seniors who have won National Merit $2500 Scholarships, four of whom live in Greater Lafayette. The Merit Scholar designees were chosen from a talent pool of approximately 15,000 outstanding Finalists in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program.

The four local winners are:

• Jonathon D. Foster of Lafayette (Harrison High School)
• Philip K. Thomas of West Lafayette (Harrison High School)
• Karen Shen of West Lafayette (West Lafayette High School)
• Xixiang Xu of West Lafayette (West Lafayette High School)

National Merit $2500 Scholarship winners are the Finalists in each state judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. They were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors. These Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.

NMSC is financing most of these single-payment National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Corporations and company foundations that sponsor awards through NMSC also help underwrite these scholarships with grants they provide in lieu of paying administrative fees.

All Finalists competed for these awards. To select scholarship winners, a committee of educators appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the Finalists and their high schools: the academic record, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay describing interests and goals; and the recommendation written by a high school official. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s high school graduating seniors.

This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began in October 2007 when more than 1.5 million juniors in over 22,000 high schools took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Last fall, the highest-scoring participants in each state, representing less
than one percent of the state’s seniors, were named Semifinalists on a state representational basis. Only the 16,000 Semifinalists had an opportunity to continue in the competition.

Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists met the very high academic standards and other requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. By the conclusion of the 2009 program, about 8,200 Finalists will earn the “Merit Scholar” title and receive a total of nearly $36 million in college scholarships.

NMSC, a not-for-profit corporation that operates without government assistance, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The majority of scholarships offered each year are underwritten by approximately 500 independent corporate and college sponsors that share NMSC’s goals of honoring scholastically talented youth and enhancing their educational opportunities.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –– Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU) and William Henry Harrison High School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Greater Lafayette’s second in-school financial institution at 7:00 a.m., on Tuesday, September 23.

PEFCU opened the area’s first in-school financial institution in January 2005 at Lafayette Jefferson High School.

“We are pleased to have this partnership with PEFCU,” said Dr. Doug Lesley, Harrison High School principal. “We believe it creates numerous educational opportunities for students and also provides beneficial financial services to Tippecanoe School Corporation employees.”

The 208-square-foot branch named Harrison’s PEFCU @ School will be operated by two high-school-student tellers and a PEFCU supervisor. Supervisor Sara Gretencord will oversee and evaluate the work of Melissa Blosser and Shane Hamilton, who were trained and worked at the PEFCU Financial Mall during the summer. Student tellers are expected to meet the same qualifications as other PEFCU employees. They must also be enrolled in the twelfth-grade Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education (ICE) course at Harrison High School. Students are selected as tellers after submitting an application and being interviewed. They receive compensation as well as ICE course credits for their work.

In addition to the hands-on learning experience for student tellers, other students will gain money management skills by opening checking and savings accounts, making transactions at the branch, and learning from the financial literacy curriculum provided by PEFCU and Harrison staff through ICE and other career- and business-related courses. The branch will be open Monday through Friday during lunch periods from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to serve students, faculty and staff.

“PEFCU has provided Harrison High School with financial education for two years and this in-school branch solidifies our commitment to the financial health of Greater Lafayette’s youth,” said Carolyn Barrett, PEFCU financial literacy coordinator. “By teaching and helping teenagers develop healthy financial habits now, we are preparing them for a bright future.”

About Harrison High School

William Henry Harrison High School is part of Tippecanoe School Corporation and has been in existence since 1971. It has approximately 1,685 students in grades 9 through 12. Harrison’s Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education (ICE) combines classroom instruction with on-the-job training related to students’ career objectives.

About PEFCU

Founded on the Purdue University campus in 1969, Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU) has assets exceeding $500 million and serves more than 56,000 members nationwide.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –- Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU) and William Henry Harrison High School will open Greater Lafayette’s second in-school financial institution on September 23. PEFCU opened the area’s first in-school financial institution in January 2005 at Lafayette Jefferson High School.

“We are pleased to have this partnership with PEFCU,” said Doug Lesley, Harrison High School principal. “We believe it creates numerous educational opportunities for students and also provides beneficial financial services to Tippecanoe School Corporation employees.”

The 208-square-foot branch named Harrison’s PEFCU @ School will be operated by two high-school-student tellers and a PEFCU supervisor. Supervisor Sara Gretencord will oversee and evaluate the work of Melissa Blosser and Shane Hamilton, who were trained and worked at the PEFCU Financial Mall during the summer. Student tellers are expected to meet the same qualifications as other PEFCU employees. They must also be enrolled in the twelfth-grade Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education (ICE) course at Harrison High School. Students are selected as tellers after submitting an application and being interviewed. They receive compensation as well as ICE course credits for their work.

In addition to the hands-on learning experience for student tellers, other students will gain money management skills by opening checking and savings accounts, making transactions at the branch, and learning from the financial literacy curriculum provided by PEFCU and Harrison staff through ICE and other career- and business-related courses. The branch will be open Monday through Friday during lunch periods from 10:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. to serve students, faculty and staff.

“PEFCU has provided Harrison High School with financial education for two years and this in-school branch solidifies our commitment to the financial health of Greater Lafayette’s youth,” said Carolyn Barrett, PEFCU financial literacy coordinator. “By teaching and helping teenagers develop healthy financial habits now, we are preparing them for a bright future.”

About Harrison High School

William Henry Harrison High School is part of Tippecanoe School Corporation and has been in existence since 1971. It has approximately 1,685 students in grades 9 through 12. Harrison’s Interdisciplinary Cooperative Education (ICE) combines classroom instruction with on-the-job training related to students’ career objectives.

EVANSTON, Ill. — More than 1,900 additional winners of National Merit Scholarships
financed by colleges and universities have been announced by National Merit Scholarship
Corporation (NMSC). These Merit Scholar designees join over 2,800 other college-sponsored
award recipients who were announced in late May.

Of the 1,900 additional winners, 3 were from Lafayette-West Lafayette:

• Andrew J. West, Jefferson HS, Lafayette
• Joe D. Drummond, West Lafayette HS, West Lafayette
• Andrew S. Pfaff, Harrison HS, West Lafayette

Officials of each sponsor college selected their winners from among Finalists in the
National Merit Scholarship Program who will attend their institution. College-sponsored awards
provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the
institution financing the scholarship.

This year 194 colleges and universities are sponsoring some 4,700 Merit Scholarship
awards. Sponsor colleges, located in 43 states and the District of Columbia, include 115 private
and 79 public institutions.

This final group of winners brings the number of 2008 National Merit Scholars to
approximately 8,300. These distinguished high school graduates will receive scholarships for
undergraduate study worth a total of approximately $36 million. In addition to college-sponsored
awards, two other types of National Merit Scholarships were offered—2,500 National Merit
$2500 Scholarships for which all Finalists competed and about 1,100 corporate-sponsored Merit
Scholarship awards for Finalists who met criteria specified by their grantor organizations.

2008 National Merit Scholarship Competition

This year’s competition for National Merit Scholarships began when more than 1.4 million
juniors in over 21,000 high schools took the 2006 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. In
September 2007, some 16,000 Semifinalists were named on a state representational basis, in numbers
proportional to each state’s percentage of the national total of high school graduating seniors.
Semifinalists were the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represented less than one
percent of a state’s seniors.

To advance to the Finalist level of the competition, Semifinalists had to meet additional
requirements. In addition to submitting a detailed scholarship application, which included an
essay describing activities, interests, and goals, they had to have an outstanding academic
record, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, and earn SAT scores that
confirmed the qualifying test performance. About 15,000 Semifinalists attained Finalist
standing, and more than half of this group were chosen to receive National Merit Scholarships.

Established in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Program, NMSC is a not-for-profit
corporation that operates without government assistance. Over the past 53 years, more than
259,000 outstanding young men and women have won National Merit Scholarships worth over
$898 million. The majority of awards offered each year are underwritten by approximately 500
independent corporate organizations and higher education institutions that support NMSC’s efforts
to recognize scholastically talented youth and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.