Whenever elementary school students find out a guest speaker is visiting their classroom, the room fills with excitement. But when educators from Arvest Bank walk through the door, they bring more than a break from regular math class with games, activities, and plenty of shiny new piggy banks.
Arvest believes learning how to handle money should start early. Through school outreach and partnerships, they introduce the basics of saving and budgeting in elementary classrooms, then build on those lessons through age-targeted modules in middle school, high school, and beyond. The goal is simple: help important money habits stick before life gets complicated.
This focus on community goes back further than you might think. In 1961, almost two decades before Sam Walton bought his famous red and white 1979 Ford F-150 pickup and just a year before the first Walmart opened, he purchased the Bank of Bentonville. That small local bank grew into the Arvest we know today, now with branches and ATMs across the South and Midwest. Through decades of growth, one idea has remained central: "People helping people find financial solutions for life."
At the heart of that mission is financial literacy: understanding how money works and how to make wise decisions with it. Budgeting for groceries, building a credit score, and buying a house all depend on practical financial knowledge that can either expand or limit your freedom and quality of life.
These lessons aren't just for kids. For adults, Arvest combines in-person workshops, one-on-one branch coaching, and EmpowerEd, a free online learning platform offering short, self-paced lessons on budgeting, saving, credit, loans, and small business, each with personalized next steps.
"I teach a budgeting lesson for a local program," said an educator with Arvest. "One gentleman, who originally was homeless when he entered the program, worked hard on paying down his debts and reestablishing his credit. He came back to me to let me know something really great: he had just found out, 2 or 3 years after starting that program, that he was pre-approved for a mortgage for the first time in his life."
Today, that same gentleman mentors others entering the program, making sure to pass along the value of building a lifelong relationship with a bank. Taking the time to learn about budgeting, credit, and financial planning can help lead people out of life's darkest alleys.
Arvest teaches that a strong credit score begins with consistent habits: make every payment on time, use credit cards responsibly, and avoid taking on unnecessary debt or opening multiple new accounts at once. Starting early helps build a longer credit history, while regularly monitoring your credit score and annual credit report helps you track progress and catch errors along the way.
"We are committed to our community," said Anna Grace Glenn, Community Marketing Manager at Arvest. "We want to grow with our customers alongside every step of their financial journey."
Financial literacy isn't mastered in a single class or workshop. It's built over years, one decision at a time, from a child's first piggy bank to a family's first home, and every milestone that follows.