California Casualty Customer Care Specialist Darrah Z. recently received an unusual request from Union High School (Evergreen School District – Washington) Math Teacher and long-term customer Jeanie Langley. “Jeanie sent me an email asking about an expert who could teach insurance fundamentals to her students,” said Darrah. Darrah sent Jeanie’s request to the Partner Relations Team for a follow-up to find out what California Casualty could do to help. It turns out that Jeanie wanted to mix it up a bit in her Financial Literacy senior class. “My students were losing interest, and I needed to do something to bring them back around,” Jeanie told us. “They are about to be real-life adults, so this is serious! I wanted to invite specialists in as guest speakers.” On different days, Jeanie had representatives from a car dealership, a local credit union, an apartment landlord organization, colleges, and health and life insurance agents come in to speak to her seniors. Ultimately, Darrah connected Jeanie with Erica Reich, a California Casualty Field Marketing Manager in Washington. Erica immediately jumped on board and agreed to take the lead role in Jeanie’s “Auto Insurance” module within Union High School’s Financial Literacy class.
Erica arrived at Union HS bright and early with a flash drive, and clicker in hand prepared to talk through a 45-minute presentation she developed with her Team Manager Brian Goodman. “Jeanie told me beforehand that this group of students can be inattentive,” Erica added. “So that’s why I brought a few ‘Distracted Driving Kills’ Impact Teen Driver t-shirts with me as prizes… I was tossing them out to the kids right away if they engaged with me.” It didn’t take long before the students were learning the difference between liability insurance, collision and comprehensive coverage, transportation, uninsured motorist, PIP, and towing options. “We taught them how to read a Declarations Page! It was a lot of fun and felt like the right thing to do,” Erica said.
“It didn’t take long for the word to get out,” said TM Brian. “She did such a great job connecting with the students.” A few days after her presentation, Erica received an email from fellow Evergreen SD teacher Allison Wallace. Allison teaches Personal Finance at neighboring He La High School. She heard about the class Erica taught for her friend Jeanie. Allison asked Erica if she would be willing to bring her expertise to her classroom, as well. Allison said, “My students have to learn to budget living expenses, investments, insurance, and credit cards. So now, Erica will be teaching two separate Personal Finance auto insurance modules. Brian added, “Word spreads quickly! Erica is volunteering her time to help kids which is worth it right there. And she is showing Evergreen High School educators the spirit of what California Casualty is all about. It’s more than providing auto and home insurance coverage – it’s our dedication to supporting and building long-lasting relationships with NEA members at all levels that truly sets California Casualty apart.”
As Erica was leaving the class at the end of the first presentation, customer Jeanie Langley told her, “I’m going home to look at my California Casualty Dec Page!”
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