One Team. One Purpose. One Family. The district is in this together, always aiming and willing to help and be there for the ones who need it the most. 

In the midst of the pandemic,the Parent Support Center, located in Roark Elementary, was shut down permanently, but it didn’t mean the end to the purpose of it. A new program was launched that aimed to help district families. 

“We shut down the Parent Support Center kind of right where COVID happened, so when (Dr. Tim) Harkrider shut the program down, he had a vision that we still had a need in our district. He hired me in November, and we rebranded it as the Wildkat Resource Center,” District Outreach Liaison, Kindra Schiffner said. 

There are 60% of enrolled students in the district whose families are economically disadvantaged meaning they barely make enough to meet their basic needs. This program goal is to help these district families they can be set up for success.

“With the new program we

want to make sure we are helping our district kids and their families,” Schiffner said. “So the goal is that we don’t want to just help the kids that have financially stable lives, but help everyone to be set up for success. The only requirements is you have to have someone enrolled in the schools or be an employee in the district.”  

Already part of the district with her kids attending the schools, Kindra Schiffner is passionate about giving to others so the position was right for her. 

“I had volunteered a lot through different programs, so when word got out that they were launching a new program, a few people reached out and was like this is perfect for you,” Schiffner said. “I interviewed for the position, and here I am. I am passionate about giving to others, and I think that our youth need to serve. I have high expectations to get our youth within our district to serve more. There are a ton of volunteer opportunities.”

The Wildkat Resource Center is located in the old administration building which in a former life was Willis High School. Getting the center ready to help the community took time, but Schniffer started helping the community long before the building was open.

“When I jumped in there was actually nothing in this building yet, and I immediately saw a need to assist for Christmas,” she said. “Different campuses do their own thing for Christmas. We here at Wildkat Resource center fulfilled 263 Christmas wish lists this past Christmas. 

The program has high expectations of growth and achieving the goals set forth.

“I hope to grow it where I am always completely stocked, so when you walk in at the lowest point of your life,  I can help you feel better about going to school the next day,” Schniffer said. “I think having clean, nice, seasonal clothes helps set you up for success. No one wants to go to school in dirty clothes. Our goal is helping by giving families some of the resources for those items. It sets them up for success and for them to feel better about themselves.”