The Arkansas Banker Spring 2021

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INDUSTRY U P DAT E S

Economics Arkansas, First Security Bank

Partner On Financial Courses For Students by Kathleen Lawson Economics Arkansas executive director

F

irst Security Bank is serving as a lead program sponsor in two programs offered by Economics Arkansas this year. The first is the Arkansas Personal Fi-

nance Challenge for high school students on April 14. This event is hosted in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis – Little Rock branch. No advance qualification or test is required. On the day of the challenge, the student teams will be given a case study about a US family’s fictitious financial situation to develop recommendations to address financial topics such as decreasing debts, reaching a savings goal, minimizing taxes or other related subjects. They will have 90 minutes to draft a six-minute PowerPoint presentation, which they will present in up to three rounds to a panel of judges. Teams will be scored in content knowledge, teamwork and communication skills/overall effect. Winning teams receive a cash prize and advance to the National Personal Finance Challenge to be held in May. “It is vitally important that today’s business owners invest in the personal finance education of tomorrow’s workforce,” said Reynie Rutledge, President and CEO of First Security. “As a banker, I am so pleased to make this commitment to Economics Arkansas to host the 2021 Arkansas Personal Finance Challenge for the state’s high school students. Learning early in life how to budget money and how to set financial goals helps every Arkansan build better futures for themselves and their families.” In addition to serving as the presenting sponsor for the Arkansas Personal Finance Challenge, First Security Bank is also supporting the statewide REAL Econ for All Conference. This two-day Relevant, Engaging, Activity-based Learning Econ for ALL Conference takes place in the summer and offers more than 80 concurrent, outstanding sessions for PreK-12 educators. Premier experts from academia, business and industry lead a wide variety of

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SPRING 2021

economic and personal finance sessions. Upon successful completion, participants earn up to 12 hours of staff development and receive grade-level curriculum choices, standards-based instruction and networking opportunities. While the conference typically takes place in Little Rock, the summer of 2020 had record-breaking attendance in its virtual setting. Plans are underway now for 2021, which may be a hybrid of in-person and virtual training sessions. “Bankers have been some of our best supporters since our inception 59 years ago,” said Kathleen Lawson, Executive Director of Economics Arkansas. “First Security Bank is a true partner and a great champion for financial literacy. We are so grateful for their support of these two signature programs.”

PHOTO: (left to right) Andrea Lewis, Kathleen Lawson, and Maria Weyrens. Photo courtesy of First Security Bank.

“Learning early in life how to budget money and how to set financial goals helps every Arkansan build better futures for themselves and their families.” Economics Arkansas (through the Arkansas Council on Economic Education) is a private, non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization founded in 1962 by Dr. Arch Ford and led by Dr. Bessie B. Moore to promote economic literacy in Arkansas. Its mission is to equip PreK-12 schools with standards-based resources and professional development to teach economics, personal finance and the free-enterprise system using practical, innovative and inspiring methods so that Arkansas students may master an understanding of economics and personal finance and apply that knowledge for success in the free-enterprise system. It is affiliated with the Council on Economic Education.


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The Arkansas Banker Spring 2021 by Arkansas Bankers Association - Issuu