For the ninth time since 2012, Farmers National Bank of Emlenton has contributed funds to support Butler County Community College programs that educate fourth graders through seniors in Western Pennsylvania schools, according to a release.

Farmers National Bank of Emlenton’s $17,000 gift to the BC3 Education Foundation through Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program will benefit a BC3 Stock Market Game that attracted 1,650 fourth through 12th graders in the 2019-20 academic year.

“There are a lot of similarities, with our being the community’s college and Farmers doing a wonderful job of reaching out to serve as a great community partner,” Nick Neupauer, BC3 president, said in a statement. “Although we are in very different sectors, there are similarities in terms of that community connection. It’s been a great partnership and fit for all these years.”

The contribution will also aid the BC3 College Within the High School Program that enrolled a 23-year-high of 455 sophomores through seniors in the spring 2020 semester, only to be eclipsed by drawing 507 in the fall.

Farmers National Bank of Emlenton has also served for the past decade as the title sponsor of the BC3 Education Foundation golf outing, which has raised more than $1 million in unrestricted funds that support BC3’s mission, goals, initiatives and programs.

“The college (and bank are) always looking for ways to better the community,” said Kyle Hilfiger of Farmers National Bank of Emlenton, where he serves as branch manager of its Bon Aire office.

Financial literacy

The college’s Stock Market Game, administered by the BC3 Center for Economic Education, introduces students to concepts in financial literacy and investing.

The game is offered in spring and fall sessions, and in a yearlong session to students attending schools in Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, Lawrence and Mercer counties.

“The more students can learn up front, the more of a head start they get, the better they are going to be,” Hilfiger said, “and the better leaders they are going to become in our communities.”

More than 530 teams composed of two to five students participated in BC3’s Stock Market Game in 2019-20, according to David Huseman, director of BC3’s Center for Economic Education and a professor of humanities and social science. During the competition, students receive a hypothetical $100,000, then make buy-and-trade decisions and track how those decisions would have played out in the market had they been real.

Four teams in BC3’s Stock Market Game finished first against all western Pennsylvania squads in divisional competitions in the spring and fall 2020 sessions, and in the yearlong 2019-20 session, Huseman said.

A squad from St. John Paul II Elementary School, Hermitage, won in the spring; a team from Butler Intermediate High School won in the fall; and squads representing Seneca Valley middle and high schools, Harmony, won in the 2019-20 session.

Credits earned

BC3’s College Within the High School program provides an opportunity for students to earn transferable college credits while in high school. The program is offered within schools or learning centers in Butler, Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield, Jefferson, Lawrence and Mercer counties, or through remote instruction or online.

Students can apply credits earned toward associate degrees at BC3 or toward bachelor’s degrees at public, private and online four-year colleges and universities.

High school students in 2020 earned 3,607 transferable credits, according to Erin Cioffi, BC3’s assistant director of high school programming.

The spring and fall 2020 semesters were the sixth and seventh in a row in which BC3’s College Within the High School Program enrolled at least 400 students. Courses include American national government, business math, college writing, general psychology, marketing and speech.

Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program provides tax credits to eligible businesses that contribute financially to a scholarship, to educational improvement or to a prekindergarten scholarship organization.