By: Rich Smith, DPS Behavioral Health Coordinator
With the store shelves stocked with back-to-school supplies and clothes in full bloom, Dickinson Public Schools’ Full Service Community Schools Site Coordinators, Sherry Leavitt and Caroline Jepson are taking the reins of the DPS Pantry for the 2024-2025 school year. The pantry was originally started by DPS School Social Workers, but due to the increasing demand for their direct services to students, the site coordinators have taken over the management, a transition that has been well received by both the site coordinators and social workers. Site Coordinator Sherry Leavitt stated, “Being able to support the social workers is going to be beneficial to not only our students but our families as well. We will be able to offer supplemental food, clothing and hygiene products as well as resources that families may use that exist in our community. We are excited for this transition and this new school year.” Both school social workers and site coordinators started getting ready for students returning to their schools on August 19th.
The site coordinators introduced a new initiative at the pantry: strengthening opportunities for families through the Great Plains Food Bank. The collaboration between school social workers and the site coordinators extends beyond the pantry, focusing on building relationships and establishing services such as remedial academic support, enrichment activities, family engagement, and wellness. These efforts will be the focus for the upcoming year. DPS’s Rich Smith states, “Our FSCS site coordinators have been a great addition to our community as they have not only strengthened areas of identified need in our buildings and community, but done so with directly helping our students and staff. This has ranged from evidence-based attendance interventions, promoting literacy events, STEM activities, and connecting families to services we already had in place or they may not have otherwise been able to attain such as the Ronald McDonald Dental mobile. With our site coordinators collaborating and now leading our Pantry, it is another method to strengthen resources we have that support families, while respecting confidentiality to help students come to school prepared to learn.”
Smith mentioned that this is the second full year the site coordinators have been in the district and expressed gratitude for the foundation provided by the School Social Workers and Volunteer Carol Herauf. “There’s no doubt that it takes a village to help kids learn, and our social workers have amazing hearts to do just that every day for every child. They worked closely with Mrs. Herauf, who was a long-standing volunteer with the Pantry and did amazing work behind the scenes, by organizing, coordinating, and working for the pantry that allows us to be in the spot we are in and that’s extending support to families.” Mrs. Herauf retired from volunteering from the Pantry following last school year but there are hopes she will come back at a comfortable level after getting to spend time with her grandchildren.
DPS School Social Worker Kristin Seaks states that the DPS Pantry and Closet has grown from its humble beginnings. “In the beginning, we did a lot of pleas on facebook looking for new and gently used clothing and winter gear to meet the needs of some of our students. During this time, the school social workers would house the items in our schools and get these items to the students in need. Once DMS was open, Hagen had physical space to house an actual pantry and closet. We began getting large donations of clothing, winter items and food from food drives for the pantry. We were able to serve families in one location and on a larger scale. During the last couple of years, we have been able to assist hundreds of families in meeting their needs for food, hygiene items, school supplies, clothing and winter gear. We are proud of the work we did to get the DPS Pantry and Closet started, and the ability to serve so many children and families. We appreciate Sherry and Caroline and their willingness to take over the day-to-day operations of the pantry and closet. They will do a great job in serving the students and families who need the items they can provide.”
The Site Coordinators and School Social Workers have put in a lot of effort to expand the hours and services provided by the Pantry for the upcoming school year. This will ensure that essential items are available to meet the needs of families. In August, the school social workers and site coordinators collaborated to support a record number of families in Dickinson during a two-day supply drive. The drive aimed to gather supplies that students are required to bring for the first day of school. Some items, such as headphones for iPads and Chromebooks provided by the school, are harder to come by, but thanks to the support from donors like Marathon Petroleum, Continental, DSU, Consolidated, private parties, and others, we have been able to alleviate some of the stress on families. The pantry reopened after Labor Day, and will begin the school year with the hours between 12:00-2:00 p.m. every Thursday.
