GAITHERSBURG, Md. – As Youth Week drew to a close, volunteers from Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union completed teaching an eight-week financial management course for eighth grade students at Mother of God School in Montgomery Village, Maryland. Weekly course topics ranged from "How to save money" and "Opening a checking account" to "Investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds". Each week, students reviewed lessons with a volunteer instructor from MAFCU and were given homework assignments to turn in the following week. At the end of the last class each of the 23 students received a certificate of completion for their participation in the program. Mid-Atlantic FCU intends to expand its financial management education program in 2005. "We want to offer this service to more of the youth in Montgomery County. Children in our community need to understand the importance of properly saving and managing their money," said MCFCU Vice President of Marketing Sharon Simpson.