S.Ga. fifth-grader wins Piggy Bank Pageant

May 8—VALDOSTA — Andy Akers, a Sallas Mahone Elementary School student, was selected as the winner of a small dollar amount to start a savings account, which was retrieved at First Federal Savings of Valdosta.

Akers is a fifth-grade student in Lowndes County, who decorated the winning piggy bank in the Piggy Bank Pageant.

Sara Kamppi, youth services librarian at Willis L. Miller Library, partnered with the Southern Georgia Black Chambers to host a Piggy Bank Pageant in observance of Money Smart Week last month.

The program's goal was to help kids establish the habit of saving early and recognize how saving can boost financial security later in life, organizers said in a statement.

Akers said the inspiration behind his piggy bank design was a chicken coop.

"I was thinking of maybe getting some chickens so I was going to save up for a chicken coop," Akers said.

He said he gained experience working with chicks in his fifth-grade class at Sallas Mahone.

Akers summarized his idea of real estate investing.

"You buy the house and then you fix up the house. Sell the house for a little more money than you bought it for," he said.

The Piggy Bank Pageant was open to all fifth-grade students in Lowndes County.

Katrena Sermons, vice president of First Federal Savings of Valdosta and SGBC board treasurer, and DeWayne Johnson, SGBC president and chief executive officer, spoke with the kids about "wants vs. needs" and saving.

Kamppi planned an activity for the kids after the tal, and participants took home their piggy bank kits to decorate at the end of the program.

Piggy banks were decorated in any way the participants wanted with minimal adult assistance. Participants also answered the Piggy Bank Pageant statement goal questions.

A combination of the most creative piggy bank and the most unique answer determined the winner, according to organizers.