Resources for Families
Communities in Schools (CIS)
The mission of Communities in Schools (CIS) is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.
While the program was first initiated in New York City by Bill Milliken, Gov. Justice and First Lady Cathy Justice have allocated monies to expand the CIS program from an initial three counties to the current 31 of 55 in the state.
In Pendleton County, our five CIS Coordinators serve in each of the three elementary schools: Brandywine Elementary, Franklin Elementary, and North Fork Elementary, as well as the Pendleton County Middle/High School. The impact the coordinators and the program have had on our students and school community are invaluable and have come at a most crucial time.
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“CIS has been a wonderful addition to our school for ensuring that student needs are met in academics, food, clothing, and social/emotional support. Having an extra person in the school that makes it their job to show students someone cares about them goes a long way with a lot of students who need that additional support. They also come up with excellent ways to increase student morale. On top of supporting students, they also do a great job in supporting staff and offering their help wherever possible.”
Steven Barnett
PCMS Guidance Counselor
CIS Holds Collaborative Meeting
Pendleton County Schools hosted a CIS Collaborative meeting on May 4, 2023 with Randolph, Grant, and Hardy County, and WVDE regional specialist Erin Boyd and Carla Snell led the meeting.
Buffalo Snow Catering Company volunteered to cater the lunch for the CIS county contacts and coordinators.
CIS Bring "Batman of WV" to County Schools
CIS coordinated an assembly at all PCS with John Buckland (Batman of WV). As an overcomer of terrible child abuse, bullying, addiction, depression and self-destruction John (Batman) brings a message of HOPE & empowerment which is fine tuned for all ages. Each grade level receives an age-appropriate message to impact them as they grow up.
CIS attended the Summer Conference at Stonewall Jackson Resort July 9-12, 2022
Get-A-Life Program
CIS Coordinators and Community Volunteers
PCMHS CIS hosted the Get-A-Life Program on Feb. 18th for 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. This program, offered by the WV State Treasurer’s Office, is a hands-on financial education experience that engages students with realistic family budget scenarios.
During the program, students were given a card with a job title, family size, and monthly income. Student then had to buy a car, house, insurance, groceries, furniture, and gas to see how well they could budget their money. The Green Reaper also stopped by and handed out "accident" cards, which are unplanned expenses.
A special thanks to our community volunteers who helped with this event for our students!
Teresa Heavner & Jessica Basagic from PCB
Larry Smith & Brianna Bruns from Summit Bank
Laura Brown from EDA
Justin Bowers from Bowers Auto Sales
Jim Brown from State Farm
Elizabeth Scott from Town of Franklin
Shelby Layton from T&K Market
Ciara Lambert from Chamber of Commerce
Sonny O'Neil from Pendleton County Board of Education
David Basagic from Basagic Funeral Home
Katie Harmon from WV State Treasurer's Office
Ali Judy & Steven Barnett, PCMHS Guidance Counselors
Lesley Cook & Liz Warner, PCMHS CIS Coordinators
Thank you to Pendleton Community Bank for sponsoring our lunch today!
Tutoring Tuesdays
On Tutoring Tuesdays, middle school students receive assistance from high school volunteer tutors.
CIS Book Club
Invited students are encouraged participate in the book club with Ms. Liz for a chance to win prizes!
CIS Site Coordinators, Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Warner, organized an Angel Tree at PCMHS for youth in the county that were in need. There were 30 kids on the Angel tree from seven months to 18 years of age, and 20 donors from both the school and community.
Mrs. Warner shows off itesm for sale at the CATS Store.
Students peruse the CATS Store.
PCMHS CIS Christmas tree with CAN food collections.
“Having CIS in our schools is something I greatly appreciate. Schools continue to play a larger role in our students' lives. With that, the bond between school and the community continues to grow with importance. The CIS does an awesome job at bridging this. It is amazing to me that a school would value these relationships so much that they would dedicate specific positions to foster these connections. It truly shows me that PCS puts students first!”
Hayley Craig
PCMS Teacher
PCMHS Ornament Makes the Front Page!
Communities in Schools coordinators were asked to create ornaments for the Capitol Tree in Charleston. While all schools worked hard and were represented well, Pendleton County Middle School's ornament was featured on the cover of the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The ornament was created by Mrs. Crystal Warner and her students and submitted through their CIS coordinator, Mrs. Liz Warner.
In January, the middle school students will be learning short and long term goal setting. Ms. Liz and Ms. Propst thought the following bulletin board would be a nice compliment to the idea of goal setting, and a fun way to start the new year.