A smooch with a pot-bellied pig secures a $5,500 school grant

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa.— When Denise Magasich, a career and technical education (CTE) teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, learned of TruMark Financial® Credit Union’s Kiss A Pig Financial Literacy fundraiser, she thought it was a novel way to secure a grant for personal finance resources. She was confident students would embrace the idea and be excited to raise money to see one of the faculty members kiss a pig.

The students held a number of fundraisers and selected Bonnie Uditsky, who was serving as the interim principal, to smooch with the pig at the event held on Oct. 2, at the Abington Art Center in Jenkintown. Uditsky had no qualms about participating and actually looked forward to the event. Some of her colleagues attended and cheered for her as she stepped on the stage to plant a kiss on Raines, the pot-bellied pig.

The fundraiser, one component of TruMark Financial’s Building Financial Futures initiative, heightens awareness for financial literacy and raises money for local schools in need of personal finance materials. Abraham Lincoln High School administrators used part of the grant to purchase Virtual Business - Personal Finance, an online simulation that teaches key personal finance concepts. Magasich said students retain more personal finance knowledge from this tool because it is interactive and they are required to track their personal behavior and spending habits.

The following schools also participated in the Kiss-A-Pig Financial Literacy Fundraiser and will receive a $5,500 grant:

• Archbishop Wood High School
• Baldi Middle School
• Bensalem High School
• Cheltenham High School
• Herbert Hoover Elementary School
• Maritime Academy Charter School
• Norristown High School
• Our Lady of Calvary School
• St. George School
• St. Jerome School
• Stephen Decatur Elementary School