Lexington middle school looking for volunteers from community

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Lexington’s Winburn Middle School wants volunteers.

Staff at the school is calling on parents and locals to take a few hours out of their day to help, saying it could unify the community.

“We certainly have a vision to enhance our family and community engagement this year at our school,” said Principal BJ Martin.

Martin says she wants students to have some familiar faces in the hallways. Some jobs a parent or community member could hold in the school if they choose to volunteer vary from monitoring hallways to engaging in the classroom

“We’ve got a large population of English learners here,” said Martin. “So, just coming in and reading with a student would be something that they easily could do.”

Staff members say student safety is still their top priority and, while there’s a need for community engagement here, they’re still taking major precautions before letting just anyone into the building.

“All Fayette County schools require all volunteers to have their background check, but then we would have to do an assessment of what are the skills and the things you can bring to our school that would be the most beneficial,” said Associate Principal Jay Jones.

All in an effort to help students know that they’re not alone when they walk outside the school’s doors.

“We are trying to shift our school culture, which I think we’re doing really well, but it takes all of us. It takes a whole village,” Martin said.

Winburn’s push to encourage community engagement in public schools is just one part of a whole initiative that Fayette County Public Schools is launching on October 10.

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