“One Stop Shop”

AESD Resource Fair gives students, families everything they need for upcoming school year

VICTORVILLE — The Adelanto Elementary School District brought the community together in support of nearly 500 local students in need of supplies for the coming school year.

The AESD’s Child Welfare and Attendance Department invited students and their families to the second annual Resource Fair Friday at the AESD Professional Engagement Center.

The fair was comprised of a myriad community vendors, as well as free services offered to students and their families. Those services included free backpacks, shoes, care bags, haircuts, dental services, clothes from the community clothing closet, clothing alterations and health exams, including Tdap and blood pressure testing. All the services were free to students and their families.

The community vendors offered free cellphones, free legal services, family assistance services, affordable health care and many other services.

Director of Child Welfare and Attendance Elizabeth Bartholomew coordinated the Resource Fair and praised the community for their eagerness to participate, which made her job relatively easy.

“We actually had people calling us volunteering to come once they found out what we were doing because it really benefits the community, especially the children of the High Desert,” Bartholomew said. “It really isn’t that challenging. It just takes the time and coordination.”

The fair had 496 students confirm their attendance and those students were told to bring their families.

“Even though we’re a K-8 district, we don’t just serve those children,” Bartholomew said. “We serve all the children in the family from toddler on to high school. We invite everybody.”

Rayshell Wray and her daughter had attended the fair before, but they were impressed by the new services that were offered this year.

“What I like about it, technically we have medical insurance, so we didn’t really need some of the services, but I just love that they offered it because it’s pretty much a one-stop shop,” Wray said.

“For the parents that don’t have that medical insurance or don’t have the means to get their child fully ready for school, it pretty much has everything here for them to do that. It’s a lot less stress on the kids and the families.”

Her favorite part of the fair was seeing her daughter get a new pair of shoes.

“She tried on those shoes and she won’t take them off,” Wray said. “You can tell they didn’t just throw it together. They really got quality stuff, and that’s something a lot of programs lack sometimes when they’re giving out free things.”

Bartholomew estimated that more than 600 hundred people attended the fair, a number that represented how much it has grown since last year when it was small enough to take place in the AESD board room.

“We’re able to offer so much more,” Bartholomew said. “We’re actually using six classrooms this year in addition to an entire multi-purpose room, so it’s grown tremendously.”

Bartholomew shared her vision for the Resource Fair and what she wanted to accomplish.

“I just want to make sure that our students, especially those at risk of homelessness or foster, don’t have the barriers that they normally would have,” Bartholomew said. “They don’t have that stigma of coming to school maybe with ripped clothes.

“Whatever we can do to reduce those stigmas and level the playing field for them, is what we need to do.”

Brenda Dowdy, the Homeless Education Project manager for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, brought backpacks for the students at the fair.

She emphasized how the Resource Fair helps homeless youth — San Bernardino County has nearly 35,000 homeless youth, according to Dowdy — by offering services they don’t always have access to.

AESD Board member Christine Turner praised the hard work of the cabinet and district staff.

“I’m blown away every time I see the dedication of everyone,” Turner said. “They go over and beyond the call of duty to make sure our community gets what we need.”