Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Arvest Bank has awarded Jessica Lee, a fifth grade reading teaching at Dewey Elementary School, with $500 as part of its "WE LOVE TEACHERS" initiative.

Lee says she will use her award to make upgrades to the reading spaces in her classroom.

"I cannot thank Arvest enough! This means so much to me and I know it means a lot to my students as well," said Lee. "I feel truly honored. This will help my classroom in so many ways. Dewey is an amazing school and I feel so incredibly blessed."

Arvest Marketing Manager Stevie Williams said, "We appreciate Jessica and all the hard-working teachers everywhere. We hope these funds help make improvements to her classroom. It was truly an honor to present the check to Jessica during the Dewey Elementary announcements. She surprised us with hand-written cards from her students thanking Arvest for selecting their teacher and for allowing them to have upgrades to their classroom reading spaces."

The WE LOVE TEACHERS initiative aims to address a widespread need among teachers. According to the 2021 AdoptAClassroom.org survey, teachers spent an average of $750 of their own money for classroom needs during the 2020-2021 school year. Additionally, 30 percent of respondants said they spend $1000 or more per year.

Arvest Bank is a community-based financial institution serving more than 110 communities in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.