What if students could monitor their savings while making the deposit process smoother for everyone involved?

Cass Kickstart to Careers, a children’s savings account (CSA) program in southwestern Michigan, answered that question by working with local college students to develop a dedicated deposit day app. The project was made possible through an Innovation & Sustainability Grant administered by CEDAM and funded by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

A simple problem, a technical solution

Before the app, Cass Kickstart to Careers visited Cassopolis Public Schools monthly to collect deposits from students during lunchtime. While this setup worked operationally, the Cass Kickstart to Careers Board recognized that it offered students very little hands-on engagement in managing their savings and growing their funds. The all-volunteer board wanted a more meaningful experience for students. With the program’s recent transition to a new data and account management platform through the same Innovation & Sustainability grant, they realized they now had the capacity to innovate. From that point, the idea for an app was born. 

“We thought using computers would be more in sync with middle school and high school,” said Becky Moore, treasurer of Cass Kickstart to Careers. 

Moore is also a trustee on the board of Southwestern Michigan College (SMC). She approached Professor Eric Clayborn, chair of SMC’s Business Department, with the project this past spring. Professor Clayborn brought the project to four students in his Intro to Coding class: Colton Hubbard, Patricia Hardy, Jessica Wickey, and Nathan Prim. “It was a great experience for our students, and we really had fun with it,” said Professor Clayborn.

Describing the development process, Patricia Hardy, one of the student developers, said, “Becky had given us some drawings she’d done on how she wanted the app to look, and one of the other students, Colton, started with that. We based the rest of it off of that, and…met with her two or three different times, and we’d show her our progress.” 

Deposit days done differently

Now with the help of the app, which debuted in May, deposit days run more efficiently and are much more engaging. The setup connects a laptop to a touchscreen tablet for students to use with a mirrored display. This allows Cass Kickstart to Careers program volunteers to see exactly what each student enters in real time and step in to help as needed. 

When a student steps up to make a deposit, they tap a start button and enter their first and last name. The app pulls their account number from a list maintained by program volunteers, stored in a CSV file. After the student enters the amount they’re depositing, the screen prompts the program volunteer to confirm the transaction with a PIN, ensuring accuracy on both ends. 

Once confirmed, the system generates a receipt that prints on the spot—a half-sheet showing the Cass Kickstart to Careers branding and the student’s updated balance. Students can also use the app to check their running balance and see what they’ve contributed during each marking period for the year. This feature becomes especially meaningful given that Cass Kickstart to Careers offers a $10 incentive to its fourth through eighth graders who make a five-dollar deposit in each of the four marking periods. By letting students track their progress toward that goal, the app reinforces consistent saving habits and helps them see how their regular deposits—and the incentive they earn—grow their accounts even more.

“We had to do a bit of tweaking once the app was up and running, but it was well received by students. We intend to use it to motivate more deposits this upcoming school year,” said Moore.

A win-win partnership

In recognition of their effort, Cass Kickstart to Careers awarded each student developer a $250 SMC bookstore gift card, also made possible through the Innovation & Sustainability Grant funding. Nathan Prim and Patricia Hardy are continuing to refine the app this fall, while Colton Hubbard and Jessica Wickey have since graduated or moved on to four-year institutions.

Speaking about the personal impact of the project, Nathan Prim said, “I was all in for this project. Before this, I had a little bit of coding experience, but I wanted to sharpen that skill. This app allowed me to do that.”

Since launching the app, Hardy has attended several deposit days to see how students and CSA program volunteers interact with the app and to note features needing refinement. She shared, “With this project, it was exciting to be able to do something that was real-world. It’s very cool knowing that somebody else is going to touch this and use this when I’m not standing there.”  

Fostering meaningful student participation requires creative thinking. By tapping into local talent, Cass Kickstart to Careers’s app illustrates how CSA programs can leverage community partnerships to connect with students through innovative, hands-on approaches. Congratulations to the Cass Kickstart to Careers program, Professor Clayborn, and the entire student development team for crafting an out-of-the-box solution that helps young savers directly interact with their growing financial futures!

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Cass Kickstart to Careers is one of 18 programs currently enrolling students in the Michigan CSA Network, a statewide initiative led by CEDAM. The Network supports community-based CSA programs through coalition building, technical assistance, and shared resources. During the 2024-25 academic year, CEDAM administered, and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity funded, more than $450,000 to Michigan CSA programs through Innovation & Sustainability Grants. 

To learn more, visit the Michigan CSA Network webpage or email CEDAM’s director of economic initiatives, Madeleine March-Meenagh, at [email protected].