A history of the school caisse in 5 fun facts!

1. The school caisse program has been around for over 113 years. The first official school caisse opened in Lévis in 1907, back when depositing 1 penny at a time was normal!

2. In the early 1900s, the school caisse's motto was All for one and one for all!

3. In 1930, to make a deposit at the caisse populaire you needed to hand over a stamp that you'd get from your teacher - meaning teachers were kind of like stamp salespeople! Some stamps had pictures of historical figures, like Jacques Cartier or the founder of the school caisse program, Alphonse Desjardins!

4. In 1949, the school caisse program decided to put more of a focus on financial education. Students learned about good financial habits based on 3 main categories : spending, saving and giving.

5. Today, more than 93,500 students 5 to 11 old take part in the school caisse program across 1,500 schools in Quebec and Ontario.