By HALEY PITTMAN

DHS

The best benefit of a small school is the relationships and bonds made between teacher and student. Danville High School does a good job at taking care of its students’ needs, specifically through the Beacon.

The Beacon Youth Services Center has been providing for students since 1989. The Beacon YSC is a school-based center designed to identify, coordinate and assist students to use existing school and community resources to increase their success.

The Beacon provides everything from hygiene products, clothing and shoe items, school supplies and anything a child could possibly need. Funded by a grant through the state of Kentucky, coordinators also work with local businesses and agencies to assist families in need.

Beth Goode, Youth Services Center director, has over 15 years of experience in education, both in the classroom and in administration.

“The Beacon Youth Service Center’s purpose is to break through student barriers in education. That can mean a lot of different things. For example, if a student does not have a bed to sleep in, it’s hard for that student to concentrate in class, so we help get the student a bed,” Goode explains.

Some services and programs Beacon YSC provides are referrals to health and social services, career exploration and development, summer and part-time job development, substance abuse education and family crisis and mental health counseling.

It also provides contests and fun activities for students, like its Elf on a Shelf drawing this past Christmas season. Students who spotted the elf or the reindeer had a chance to win prizes through name drawings. As students who have something to enjoy at school are more likely to succeed academically, the Beacon creates many opportunities to engage students.

In addition to these services, Beacon is collaborating with CenterPoint Church to provide needed items.

On Friday, March 24, the CenterPoint truck will be parked in the DHS front parking lot from 9 to 10 a.m. They will be providing coats, food and other products.

“The Beacon is one of the most vital assets of our school. They service our students and families’ needs and act as a liaison to a variety of community programs. They play a huge role at Danville High School,” Haley Ralston, principal of DHS, added.

If you are someone in need and unsure who can help, contact Beacon YSC.

Goode says, “I have two students on my advisory council that let me know when a student may have a need. We help with back to school backpacks and supplies, shoes, clothes, utilities, housing, mental health, we provide suicide prevention programs, nutrition programs, relationship programs, sex education programs, character education programs, assemblies . . . There is so much we do.”