ZONE Family Resource Coordinators Support Thriving Students, Families, and Schools

Amy McColm and Nathan Hamilton, ZONE Family Resource Coordinators

Students do better when they have support from both their teachers at school and their parents/caregivers at home. The ZONE has placed two Family Resource Coordinators in six Spokane Public Schools. These dynamic individuals work closely with Principals at their schools to engage families in the school and remove barriers to student success.

Nathan Hamilton supports families at Bemiss, Logan, and Regal Elementary schools. He loves his job and partners with teachers and school staff who make a difference in the lives of their students. Currently, he has been working hard to reestablish the Parent Teacher Group at Logan Elementary. The parents, teachers, and school staff are coming together to hold their first PTG meeting in over four years: a huge, new milestone for parent-involvement in the Logan school community. Nathan takes Teacher-appreciation seriously! He has been working with local churches and businesses to “thank” the teachers at Bemiss Elementary for all of the passion, love, and extra hard work they have been giving while teaching students this year during the pandemic. Nathan has also helped out at Whitman and Cooper Elementary schools to organize food distributions. On top of these special projects and his year-long commitment to increasing food-security for families in The ZONE, Nathan supports approximately 40 families setting and meeting goals for themselves and their children. This work is dynamic and Nathan plays a pivotal role for many families in The ZONE.

Amy McColm is our Family Resource Coordinator at Lidgerwood and Stevens Elementary schools and Garry Middle School. Amy is employed by Stand For Children Washington, which partners with The ZONE to make a huge impact for these school communities. Amy has been busy with a variety of projects this year, including creating and managing the Clothing Closet at Stevens Elementary. This is a place where students can go to get clean, gently used, or new clothes when they need them. Amy works closely with teachers who are able to identify this need for students in their classes. Another project that has kept Amy busy this winter is helping to make this year’s Read Across America a very special one. She rallied community partners to donate funds that were used to buy children’s bikes for prizes to young readers. Amy has been active in supporting the development of a community center within Garry Middle School, where many partners come together in support of students and their families. Amy helped start a local attendance board at Lidgerwood Elementary to help improve student attendance. She works closely with families to secure and keep their housing and goes out of her way to support immigrant families in The ZONE to secure the services their children need to be successful in school.