GROVELAND — Sixth-graders at Bagnall School were full of questions when their classroom sponsor, Bob Balletto, president of Groveland Savings Bank, came to visit.
They wanted to know what role math plays in banking, whether he ever had to fire someone, and if the bank had ever been robbed.
Balletto, having made classroom visits before, was well prepared to answer.
"It's a lot of fun and always a surprise," he said. "The kids come up with some great questions."
He handled the question about bank robbers with a story about a teller who tried to count the money for the robber. The robber got impatient and took the cash before she was done counting. Later, when police caught him, they found out he had not gotten the entire $20,000 he had demanded.
Balletto explained that firing someone is not a good experience. He also said addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are very important in banking.
The classroom visit was part of the Bagnall Education Foundation's Sponsor-a-Classroom reception. The donors went to visit the classes they sponsored after first hearing a speech from the Bagnall Education Foundation's president.
Sponsor-a-Classroom has been going on for 13 years, and in that time it has raised more than $75,000.
It costs $125 to sponsor a classroom. The teachers usually use that money to buy books to supplement the classroom library.
The sixth-grade classroom sponsored by Balletto used his donation to buy large archaeology books packed with pictures, a book about Israel, some classic paperback novels and hardcover references.
They were a big hit in the classroom.
"They had cool pictures of ancient ruins and a lot of artifacts," student Aidan Gorrell said of the archaeology books.
"They helped us learn a lot about ancient cultures," said student Sean Lovett.
Student Jonathan Hayes was a fan of the book about Israel.
"It showed Israel from the air," he said, "and it showed awesome contrast between the green parts and the desert."
