At the heart of the RMHS Branch of the Reading Cooperative Bank is Branch Manager Judy Langill, who brings a focus on financial literacy and a caring personality to the students of RMHS.
Often overlooked by students running to begin their lunch in the cafeteria, the Reading Cooperative Bank is nestled in the RMHS basement. Mrs. Langill, a Reading Cooperative Bank Assistant Vice President and the RMHS Branch Manager, has been in the banking industry for the past 22 years. The last 15 years of her career have been focused on education and financial literacy. Her experience with the banking industry and vast knowledge of financial markets have made her a great addition to RMHS for the past four years. An interview with Mrs. Langill revealed her day to day duties at the high school, along with the impacts RMHS students have made on her.
At RMHS, Mrs. Langill operates the bank daily, doing tasks such as opening the vault, signing on to teller drawers, running transactions, balancing the drawers at the end of the day, and moving money from the drawers to the vault. She also oversees the RCB Branch at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School. In between maintaining the bank, Mrs. Langill teaches Retail Banking I and II, two classes that train students to be bank tellers, as well as teach various aspects of financial literacy.
Mrs. Langill’s feelings about her job are clear. “I absolutely love the students. I love working here,” she said. She enjoys working in school banking because she thinks it is a great service for students as they can learn life skills before moving on to college. She also thinks that it is great that students can learn pieces of financial planning in her class so that they do not set themselves up for failure when they leave RMHS.
Within the RMHS community, Mrs. Langill has also implemented new experiences for students to get acclimated to real-world financial situations. She stated, “I have always worked for Credit for Life, with the MSBA, with a lot of organizations for financial literacy.” Justin Raimo (‘25) buys into Mrs. Langill’s thinking. “In school you don’t really learn a lot about how to learn the skills to be successful, like with life skills,” he said. Mrs. Langill has worked to combat this by organizing the Credit for Life Fair for juniors since 2023. The fair places students into the life of a 25 year old and forces them to make real-time decisions based on their income and savings.
Raimo also spoke on the Credit for Life Fair, noting that it taught him a lot about how to be successful outside of school. He also stated, “I noticed the behind the scenes of how much work Mrs. Langill put into it, and I felt like it really went well. She really put a lot of work into finding volunteers and carrying the booths.” This reflects how much Mrs. Langill cares about her students’ level of preparedness for entering the real world outside of high school.
Mrs. Langill’s role at RMHS is a bit different from her previous job, in which she managed five school branches. In her previous role, she was able to get involved with more projects outside of sitting in the school branch. She mentioned she used to give more financial literacy presentations, which she misses. However, she said, “As far as this school goes, the people are great, the faculty are great, the students have been great; I have made a lot of good connections.”
These connections that Mrs. Langill speaks of are prominent in the RMHS community, where numerous students rave about her class and her personality. Grace Ryan (‘25) stated, “I love Mrs. Langill. She’s so nice, caring, and thoughtful.” Cal Hurley (‘25) also stated, “Mrs. Langill is a good teacher. She lets you come into the room even if you don’t have the class. She’s definitely able to listen if you ever want to say anything.” Mrs. Langill’s friendly, kindhearted personality has even led to former students returning frequently to visit. Mrs. Langill stated, “I still talk to students that graduated here four years ago […] I see a lot of kids; I like to hear how they are doing at college, so a lot of kids stop in.” These long-lasting connections attest to the major role Mrs. Langill plays in not only developing the financial literacy skills of students, but also the impact her personality has on students.
Outside of the bank, Mrs. Langill enjoys various activities such as walking, visiting the ocean, and doing things around her hometown with her husband. Mrs. Langill also has a very close connection with her family. “I have five grandchildren. I am very close to my family; I have four grandsons, so we are usually running around to hockey games, football games, and all of the games on the weekends to see them, or babysitting,” she said.
Mrs. Langill’s personal connections, welcoming nature, and deep caring for her students have made her four years at RMHS very memorable, and have made her a great person for students to go to whether they need financial help or life advice.
