Look out world, there is a whole new group of Alabama Banking School graduates! Students traveled to Mobile last week for the week-long session which culminated with the graduation on July 24. Congratulations to both the valedictorian, Woody Odom with AuburnBank, as well as salutatorian, Matthew Oglesby with CB&S Bank of Russellville. This year, the school celebrated the 2,000th graduate since its inception in 1975. Holly Shipp with Traditions Bank in Cullman received this designation. Another highlight of the final year of banking school is participation in the BankExec program. This is a computer-based bank balance sheet and income statement program that allows students to run a simulated bank. Twelve teams were split amongst three communities to compete for best performance. Congratulations to the following winners:
- Community A (Prosperity Bank) – Matthew Oglesby, CB&S Bank in Russellville; Carla Givens, Citizens Bank, Inc. in Robertsdale; Dennis Wisener, Metro Bank in Heflin; Ross Terry, Renasant Bank in Decatur; and, Julius Peterson, Wells Fargo in Tuscaloosa.
- Community B (CNC Bank) – Jimmy Cockrell, Peoples Bank of Alabama in Cullman; Caleb Thompson, Escambia County Bank in Flomaton; Kimberly Buchan, Wells Fargo in Auburn; and, Nick Jones, First State Bank of DeKalb County in Fort Payne.
- Community C (American Bank) – Maryann Gendron, Farmers & Merchants Bank in Oxford; Raleigh Green, Bank Independent in Sheffield; Aaron White, First Community Bank in Daphne; and, Davis Dugger, Trustmark Bank in Mobile.