PARSONS – Tucker County Family Resource Network Executive Director April Miller updated Tucker County BOE members about a program that has been around for a great number of years.

The Tucker County FRN began in Tucker County in 1994. She said the first program in West Virginia began in 1992 and their goal is to help families.

“We received our initial grant in 1994 and were an official non-profit since 1996,” Miller said. “We have lived in this building since that time.”

Miller said the Tucker County FRN offers many programs and initiatives and said she keeps a resource directory of things a family could use. She said they are working with schools on the Handle with Care Program.

“Handle with Care is a community-wide program. If a child has a trauma at home over the weekend, or is something happens, there is a mechanism that we can notify the school system without divulging what happened, so the teacher knows something traumatic happened in the house and to handle that child with care,” Miller said. “It is also a state-wide program. It is a nice little thing to have.”

Miller said the Tucker County FRN houses the school supply pantry. The program received funding from an anonymous donation mini grant in Richmond, Va.

“Every year we used to do a back pack program with school supplies,” Miller said. “We decided that it might be more efficient for the teachers to have access to the supplies. Instead of the kid getting a back pack with school supplies in August, the teachers have access to the stuff throughout the year and when their back packs break.”

The Tucker County FRN also sponsors Warm the Children. “We have a partnership with The Parsons Advocate and Kmart in Elkins,” Miller said. “We served 121 children this year which is down this year. We didn’t have the funds to serve them all. Last year, we did 180 children.”

Miller said they are doing ‘back pack buddies’ which is a weekend feeding program with the school.

She said they are serving 90 Tucker County students. She said they work with Mountaineer Food Bank for the program.

“Children that teachers and other social services identify get a back pack on Friday filled with food that will get them through the weekend,” Miller said.

She said another program they offer provides free smoke detectors in the home, and the program is a partnership with American Red Cross.

“We have access to free smoke detectors. Our staff is trained to install the smoke detectors and this program is targeting our families in our home education program, but it is open to anyone,” Miller said. “We also do curriculum in the school.”

The Allegheny Highlands Parents as Teachers program began eight years ago. Angie Davis said the program struggled in the beginning because of limited funds, but four years ago, the program got rolling.

“Two years ago we starting receiving Federal money and expanded into Randolph and Barbour counties,” Davis said. “We hired four people in Randolph, two more in Tucker and then three in Barbour County.”

Davis said the program visits families with children aged pre-natal through school aged.
“We do home visits and do age appropriate activities,” Davis said. “We try to get older children ready for school. We have group connections because it is important families have social connections in their community.”

Davis said the program gives families a new book each month because they support literacy. They also do developmental screenings. The fourth component of the program is making referrals based on family need.

“Right now we have about 160 families in the program,” Davis said.

Davis said the Parents as Teachers is in all 50 states and some foreign countries and said the program just came up with a blue ribbon affiliate program.

“They selected our program to go through the endorsement process and we are one of 14 in the entire world and the first blue ribbon affiliate program in the state of West Virginia,” Davis said. “There were 100 quality indicators and we scored 91 out of 100.”

Miller thanked the Tucker County BOE members for their continued support of the Tucker County FRN and the Allegheny Highlands Parents as Teachers programs.

Also during Tuesday’s BOE meeting:
Tucker County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Eddie Campbell said he received notice of the OEP rating.
“It’s in state code that when the schools grades come out, the county gets an overall rating,” Campbell said. “Tucker County was one of 14 of the 55 counties that received full approval from the OEPA and the state board of education. We are very proud of that fact and I know our teachers and administrators will take great pride in that rating as well. We have to continue doing the things we have been doing over the years to demonstrate that continued school improvement and maintain that.”
Campbell said Tucker County High School is going to be recognized for its graduation rate.
“We exceeded 90 percent this past year and there is going to be a ceremony in Charleston to recognize any high school that achieved 90 percent or better graduation rate. Mr. (Jay) Hamric works extremely hard to keep these kids in school. This is an extreme honor.”
The next Tucker County BOE meeting is slated for 4:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the BOE Office.