Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success to be host of back-to-school fair on Saturday

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success (HAYS) is helping Hannibal Public School district families get on board for the new school year through its second back-to-school fair.

HAYS, an organization of the Hannibal Public School District, is the United Way of the Mark Twain Area’s Community Impact Agency that will be highlighted throughout August.

The fair, Sailing Back to School, will take place from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17 in the Hannibal Middle School gymnasium. All district families with children preK through 12th graders can attend.

Amid a morning of games and activities, families will each have access to essential school supplies and services to prepare for the new school year.

More than 20 local businesses so far have signed up to provide school supplies. Each child will go home with a back-to-school bag with an item from each of those businesses.

The fair will provide free haircuts and hearing and vision screenings. New to the fair this year will be the MOCHIP event from the Missouri Child Identification Program, which will provide resources on the safety and security of students.

The first back-to-school fair was last year in an effort to connect families and no-cost opportunities to help relieve some of the back-to-school burden that many families face.

“Ultimately, the goal of HAYS is to bring the community together, because there’s so much more power in collaboration,” Andrea Campbell, communication specialist at the Hannibal Public School District, said in a press release. “Post COVID, a lot of individual businesses, companies and organizations were having school supply drives to help students but could not make as big of an impact as bringing everyone together in one place.”

The back-to-school fair is just one way the HAYS organization helps the Hannibal School District families and kids.

HAYS has been an organization of the Hannibal Public School District since 2008 when the district received a grant to partner with the University of Missouri to determine the needs of local families.

The mission of HAYS is for every child to have hope for a successful future, a sense of self-worth, lead a healthy and productive life and be a responsible and contributing member to the community in which they live.

Through its mentoring program, HAYS provides a mentor from the community who builds a trusted relationship through one-on-one support and guidance.

Mentors usually meet with their assigned student once a week at school, but it sometimes becomes a much deeper connection. Mentoring is a long-term commitment, and many of the mentors have stayed with their students from elementary and beyond graduation.

“It’s a chance for community members to have an opportunity to help kids in Hannibal without being their teacher. We try to start out as young as possible. So if it’s a first or second grader, and it’s your first time entering, then you’ll build that relationship over time,” Campbell said. “The mentoring is focused on providing social and emotional support, rather than just academic tutoring, to help the students succeed.”

The Buddy Pack program is an important way to address food insecurity for students in the district where about 58 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Providing meals to more than 400 students weekly to public and parochial schools, the Buddy Pack program is a lifeline to many students who are guaranteed meals during the school week but would otherwise go without food on the weekend.

Buddy Packs contain items such as peanut butter, microwavable macaroni and cheese, soup, applesauce, fruit cups, granola bars and other items that are easy for kids to prepare by themselves.

Students do not need to be on a free and reduced lunch plan to get a Buddy Pack.

“We have great counselors who are in touch with what the student needs right now. So regardless of if they are officially on that list or not, our counselors are making sure that they’re working to get them to students who need them,” Campbell said.

Items in Buddy Packs are collected through donations from the community, various businesses and organizations, grants and United Way dollars as a Community Impact Partner.

The Helping Hands fund is supported by both community donations and staff contributions. It helps HAYS step in to support students and families when they are facing unexpected challenges.

“Helping Hands addresses basic needs that, if unmet, would prevent students from being able to focus on their education,” Campbell said.

The Helping Hand Committee provides assistance such as hotel stays in emergency situations, clothing school supplies and more. The committee also covers costs for necessities families cannot afford some including eyeglasses or medication.

Through this program, HAYS is also able to identify issues to address with families and students.

Last year, HAYS brought in Russ Tuttle, founder of The Stop Trafficking Project, to discuss online dangers of child trafficking. Tuttle spent an evening speaking to participating parents and then delivered age-appropriate presentations to specific grade levels.

Campbell said after Tuttle’s discussion, several students visited their school counselors to talk about situations they were concerned about.