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Before this past weekend’s Pack the Cruiser event, five State Farm agents in Jessamine County donated supplies to Jessamine County Schools Youth Service Center. 

The school district’s Student Support Services department helps children overcome barriers to learning by referring families to community agencies that assist with bills and basic living needs, health education, and mental health counseling, to name a few. 

Providing school supplies to kids and classrooms in need is one way the department helps children in the county’s elementary, middle, and high schools. District Mental Health Consultant Kelli Canup said having the tools they need gives kids the confidence to learn and thrive. 

“It’s just a big relief when parents need things or when kids get to school when they don’t have something they want or need or forgot or didn’t have the funds to get,” said Canup, who worked with Student Support Services Director Beth Carpenter to coordinate this donation. 

According to Canup, having the supplies every child needs also decreases distractions for everyone in the classroom and causes a ripple effect. 

“The kid that doesn’t have headphones isn’t trying to talk or ask the other children what is going on. So, it’s not only that one child that’s getting supplies, but it’s helping the other kids because they’re not trying to gather, and work, and figure it out or have to leave the classroom even to go get something or to call a parent.”

Randall Chewning, Steve Page, Michael Cayse, Jennifer Hawkins, and Richard Woolums donated $1250 in school supplies to Student Support Services, including 100 headphone sets and chisel-tipped whiteboard markers for teacher use. 

Canup said the district identified items on a wish list for specific needs. “In years past, we’ve done backpacks, and this year, we chose to do more items, so we can spread it out a bit more,” she said.

“It’s just one way that we collectively try to collaborate and get together and give back to the community and impact a lot of people. Be a good neighbor, that’s what we’re trying to be. Good neighbors to our school system and the families we all serve,” Chewning said. 

If interested in donating supplies to the Jessamine County Schools central office, the wish list of most needed items sent out for Cram the Cruiser included headphones, plastic folders (red, yellow, blue, green) with prongs/pockets, Expo markers, highlighters, crayons, markers, 2-3 inch binders, composition notebooks, and spiral notebooks. The list also included a section of items the schools do not need at the moment, including lunch boxes, backpacks, paper, rulers, glue sticks, or glue bottles.