Virginia National Bank (VNB) is excited to announce the students who have been accepted into VNB’s 2023 Finance Career and Leadership Academy (FCLA, Academy). In total we have fourteen students who have earned positions in the Academy – nine in Charlottesville and five in Warrenton.
“We were extremely impressed by the number of talented and qualified young people who applied for entry into our program,” said Glenn Rust, President and CEO of Virginia National Bankshares Corporation (VABK) and CEO of VNB. “Congratulations to this year’s winners, who each show a strong commitment to furthering their financial education and improving their lives and their communities. We are proud to have them as participants in this year’s FCLA and to support their educational and professional journey.”
The students accepted into the Charlottesville Academy include:
Alexis Alms – Albemarle High School
Kamryn Buckwalter – Albemarle High School
Alani Green – Charlottesville High School
Jazz Harris – Charlottesville High School & CATEC
Arjun Marwah – The Covenant School
Bethany Miles – Homeschool
Tia Scott – Charlottesville High School
Oren Tieyah – Albemarle High School
Summer Weakley – William Monroe High School, Ruckersville
The students accepted into the Warrenton Academy include:
Gabby Downey – Liberty High School, Bealeton
Jack Flemming – Eastern View High School, Culpeper
Aryan Joshi – Battlefield High School, Haymarket
Asaph King – Homeschool
Jake Miller – Fauquier High School
The participants were chosen based on their academic achievement, extra-curricular activities, community service, and overall character. Applicants also wrote an essay about what they hoped to accomplish with a stronger and deeper financial education and went through an interview process.
The Finance Career & Leadership Academy is a free instructional program designed to not only provide advanced personal finance and employment readiness training, but also a path to career opportunities in banking for high school juniors and seniors within our communities. The most promising and top performing students from the Academy are considered for VNB’s College Program (the Business/Staff Development Program).
The College Program is a bank-sponsored, comprehensive, free training program that consists of 15 courses of which 13 are accredited college/university courses (38 credit hours that are transferable to a 2 or 4-year college/university) and work projects. Participants receive fulltime pay with full fringe benefits (includes 401k with company match) while completing the program and, if successful in the program, have the potential opportunity for a career with VNB. Also, once employed, should they choose, they may go on to complete a 2 or 4-year degree at the company’s expense.
“Helping local students develop their financial skills on both a professional and personal level while also giving them a career path without the high levels of student debt is our goal,” said Rust. “Our educational programs are a means by which we give back to our community and we look forward to continuing these programs for years to come.”
VNB would also like to personally thank all those who helped us reach so many qualified, talented, and hard-working young people in our community. Including, but not exclusively or in any particular order, –
Charlottesville
Albemarle County Public Schools, particularly
Kate Acuff, Albemarle County School Board – Jack Jouett District
Esmerelda Amos, Career Specialist, AHS
Caroline Bertrand, Career Specialist, WAHS
Charlottesville Public Schools, particularly
James Daly, Economics and Personal Finance Teacher, CHS
Deborah Tewksbury, Personal Finance Teacher, CHS
Yumeca Webb-Jordan, Personal Finance Teacher, CHS
Megan Fitzgerald, Career & Technical Education Department Chair
Joshua Rashad Epps, UVA – Division for DEI – Program Manager of MOCHA/WOCHA Stuart Hornsby, Owner of Lux Ventures and Campaign Manager, The Center for Christian Study at UVA James Pierce, Owner of PSA, and former CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Central Virginia Connie Sylvester, Equis Financial and ACTS Board Director Venita Richmond, President, Albemarle Christian Teaching Support (ACTS) Jackie Jamison, Development Director and College Counselor, Regents School Julia Hixson, Director of College Advising, The Covenant School Carl E. Brown, President, C.E. Brown & Associates Wanda Sloper, REACH Homeschool Group, VA
Warrenton
Liberty High School, particularly
Erin DiVello, Business and Marketing Department Chair
Fauquier High School, particularly
Holly Schoenhoff, Career Coach
Frank Stranos, Business & Marketing Department Head
Battlefield High School
Osbourn Park High School, particularly
Kathleen Riddle, Business Marketing Department Chair
At Virginia National Bank, we are practicing social distancing. Even our logo is practicing social distancing! As an essential business, we will remain open to provide service to our customers. We have reduced the amount of employee contact within our company as well as distanced ourselves from the public by keeping our drive-thru services available at four of our locations, as well as continuing to offer bank transactions at ATMs, through online banking and VNB's mobile app. The majority of our staff members are working remotely and the remaining essential staff have created more distance between each other within our offices.
We will continue to provide exceptional customer service as we navigate through the current situation. Thank you for your business.
