Arvest to give $39K to Arkansas, Missouri teachers

Arvest Bank will honor teachers throughout the state of Arkansas while awarding 78 educators with a total of $39,000 in prize money.

The decision to award 78 $500 gifts to individual teachers from a pool of 31 counties — and two nearby counties in Missouri — was made out of “respect and appreciation for the work teachers do,” a news release said. All prizes will go to teachers who work at state-funded schools.

“At Arvest, we believe that being a teacher is a calling, and many of these teachers make sacrifices every day for our kids,” said Don Gooch, community bank president for Arvest Bank in southwest Arkansas. “This campaign is our way of supporting exceptional teachers by giving them extra money to spend on supplies for their classrooms.”

To nominate a teacher to receive one of the $500 prizes, look for an Arvest Bank Facebook post about this contest during the week of Oct. 7-13. Reply to the post with a favorite teacher’s name and other requested information, including one sentence describing why that teacher deserves to win.

This is the third year for the campaign in Arkansas. Counties included are Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Conway, Craighead, Crawford, Faulkner, Franklin, Garland, Hempstead, Howard, Johnson, Little River, Logan, Lonoke, Madison, Marion, Miller, Mississippi, Montgomery, Pike, Polk, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Scott, Sebastian, Sevier, Washington and Yell in Arkansas, and Barry and McDonald in Missouri.