Ocean State Credit Union on West Shore Ave welcomed in a class of special education students from Toll Gate High School on Thursday for a lesson on banking.

The visit was part of Toll Gate’s Intensive Academic Special Education (IASE) program, which, according to teacher Sarah Amato-Benitez, helps organize community outings for students to get more hands-on experience with important life skills and potential interests.

Amato-Benitez said she reached out to the credit union about teaching students more about banking, and Branch Manager Michael Freeman and Marketing Coordinator Kat McConnell welcomed the students into their location.

“I just asked ‘Do you ever work with students, or in a classroom, on financial literacy?” Amato-Benitez said. “They’ve been busy; they’ve been awesome.”

The program, according to teacher Erin McParlin, helps special education students learn important life skills and learn about potential interests, and has seen a significant expansion this year.

What really helps the program leave its impact, according to Amato-Benitez, are the trips that the students take and the experiences that they have as a result, helping them decide what they want to do in life.

“That’s what our goal is,” Amanda Morgan, another teacher with the program, said. “It’s to give these kids career and independent life skills. We’re all around town.”

Morgan said that due to the different outcomes of students in the course, with some past students going to community college and others receiving skills trainings, it was important to make sure students found their passions and that teachers could maximize their potential interests.

Freeman and McConnell both traveled to Toll Gate last Tuesday to introduce themselves and teach the students more about banking. The students’ enthusiasm, they said, was immediately evident.

“They were excited, and we’re just excited to have people coming in too,” Freeman said.

Freeman also said that Ocean State Credit Union’s more open interior made it easy for the bank to welcome the students.

Students’ lesson plans for the week included learning about checking and savings accounts, how to balance a checkbook, and reflections on what students learned, according to Amato-Benitez.

Multiple students remarked upon the bank’s interior, with one saying that they had “never seen a more beautiful place.” The credit union opened its Warwick location last year.

The credit union being new in the community, McConnell said, made it more important for them to hold events such as Thursday’s and make community connections.

“We like to reach out a lot to the community, so it was good for them to contact us, and for us to have them come,” McConnell said.

Other locations that students have gone include the Warwick Sewer Authority and Warwick City Hall, where they met with Mayor Frank Picozzi.

Later this week, the program will be heading to the Providence Performing Arts Center to learn more about the world of theatre.

PPAC, though, will have a high bar to clear.

“Ocean State Credit Union] prepared a lesson that was so thoughtful and really defined for our group of students,” Amato-Benitez said. “And they followed through with their communication. So I really appreciate them.”