Park Middle School resource fair provides helping hands to LPS families

December 16, 2024

Park Middle School became a place where many helping hands could reach out into the community this fall during a resource fair.
 
Nearly 30 community-based organizations gathered in Park’s cafeteria for the fair, which was designed to help the school’s families receive information about many valuable resources. Agency representatives spoke with people about ways to access housing, food, clothing, therapy, education, transportation, hygiene and cultural services. Dozens of families received pamphlets, contact information and heartfelt hugs throughout the afternoon and early evening.
 
Becky Henning helped organize the school’s inaugural fair with fellow school counselors. Henning, who works with sixth graders at Park, visited with local agencies after she and other Lincoln Public Schools employees talked about the possibility of having a fair. The positive reception to the idea set the stage for the successful November event.
 
“I was really pleased with the turnout of agencies and families,” Henning said after the fair. “Several agencies praised the organization and the opportunity to connect with our Park community. Many families left with information they would not have had otherwise.”
 
Mackenzie Koch said she was impressed with the way Park opened its doors to people across the area. Koch is director of club operations and program development at Boys and Girls Clubs of Lincoln/Lancaster County, which provides many educational opportunities for students.
 
“It’s huge to have something like this,” Koch said. “I talk with Park students a lot during the year, but to have this many people here in one place is amazing. It really helps spread the word about all of the services that are available for them.”
 
The local Boys and Girls Club chapter currently serves 140 Park youth. Alexis Rieck, program director at Park, plans activities that focus on academic success, citizenship and healthy lifestyles. Koch said her goal for the fair was to increase awareness about those programs.
 
“We want to invite as many people as we can,” Koch said.
 
CEDARS Youth Services representatives Kayla Jaskulski and Brianna O’Neill were also pleased with the fair. Both work with the organization’s community response initiative, which is available to any family in Lincoln or Lancaster County with children living at home.
 
O’Neill said it was important to talk with a large group of people. The community response program helps local residents develop positive parenting techniques and personal budgeting and job interviewing skills. It also provides access to resources that help with basic needs such as housing, utilities, food and transportation.
 
“There will be times when we’ll speak with someone and they’ll say, ‘I never knew that. This is so good to know,’” O’Neill said. “It’s a good feeling to know that we’re able to provide services that will help someone, and we want to help as many people as we can. Something like this really helps spread the message of what CEDARS offers.”
 
Henning and Park Principal Charlotte Everts worked together to plan the best date and time for the event. They and other school counselors wanted to maximize the number of potential visitors to the fair, and they felt having it on the same day as parent-teacher conferences would achieve that goal.
 
“I feel that pairing it with parent-teacher conferences was the best way to get the largest variety of families exposed to the resources,” Henning said. “It also was the right amount of time. We had a slower start because families were looking through the clothing we had available, but once the initial lull was over we had a pretty consistent stream.”
 
Park’s counseling center gathered hundreds of pieces of clothing that families could take home. School counselors filled a hallway near the main office with shirts, sweaters, pants and jeans for people to collect in bags.
 
Visitors then traveled to the cafeteria to visit with agencies. Nineteen tables filled one part of the cafeteria and other organizations set up booths in a hallway.
 
Henning said she was grateful to see many conversations happen between agency representatives and LPS employees. Koch, Jaskulski, O’Neill and others talked with Park teachers, administrators and school counselors throughout the event. The face-to-face meetings will help Park staff members provide important information to families throughout the school year.
 
“I also appreciated the connection the agencies made with our Park staff,” Henning said. “I look forward to our partnering in the future, which was made so much stronger through this event.”
 
Henning said she would love to have Park’s resource fair be an annual event. She has also heard interest from other LPS middle schools about having similar fairs at their buildings. Those events would allow local agencies to reach out their helping hands to even more people in Lincoln.
 
“The holidays and cold weather are coming up and it can be a really hard time for many families,” Henning said. “I really hope that even if a family didn’t need the support right now that they got the information and connection to share with others as well.”
 
LPS school counselors can provide residents with many helpful resources at their buildings. To learn more about our school counselors, visit our website at home.lps.org/counseling.
 
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