Real help for Stilwell Students
photo by
Jane T. D.
by Renee Fite
City of Stilwell Director of Public Relations and Media
Offering a hand up to families and students, Rhea Terrapin Toney is a Full Service Community School Coordinator.
She works with the school students and families to help provide resources needed. She also works with truancy within the school system, along with coordinating networks and collaborating with community members, civic groups and other volunteers to help support local students as a whole in the community.
"We have three coordinators within our school system. Jarod Thompson works with the elementary school as the coordinator and Jamie West is the coordinator that works with the middle school. I work with the high school age,” said Toney. Jane Rhodes is the director who oversees the grant.
This is Toney’s third year working with the grant program.
“Anyone that has a need for food qualifies,” Toney said.
“We have teachers and counselor support,” she said. “Staff refer students as they see in need.”
There is always a need for food among students.
“We keep our food pantry organized so when we get low on something, we will put out an email to our staff and also to our community members and groups if they want to donate a specific item that we see in need for in our food pantry,” Toney said.
Full Service Community School coordinator Rhea Terrapin Toney checks the food supply for students.
photo: Renee Fite
Donations that they often are in need of are jelly, peanut butter, corn, green beans, mac-n-cheese, Ramen Noodles, sacks of pinto beans, oatmeal, spaghetti sauce and noodles, soup, canned fruit, and rice.
“We will accept any donations,” she said.
They also keep toiletries such as soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, combs and brushes.”
Toney also serves as the court liaison for the Stilwell Municipal Court working with the juveniles. She has been working with the juvenile court with Judge Rex Earl Starr when it was developed in 2006.
“As the liaison for court, I am the advocate or sometimes the middleman between the families and the judge and sometimes law-enforcement. I carry out with the judge orders, and maintain and keep track of all of the juveniles on any court ordered stipulations that the judge imposes on the juvenile,” she said.
Sometimes that is referring for counseling and therapeutic services, community service hours, and any other needs that the juvenile may need in order to complete their court ordered case.
Her responsibilities are all about helping youth.
“This is also a good resource for me to have for my court kids because some of them are students that we do work with and it just gives us more of a resource in case they do need food,” Toney said. “This kind of goes hand-in-hand when you deal with a student due to some of the limited resources that we have available for our students and families.”
Sometimes the court process can seem very complicated to some, and it can be intimidating as well.
“I try to do what I can to help the families do the best they can to complete any services that were court ordered by the judge. As the FSCS coordinator, I would just like the community to know that this service is available, and it is free to anyone who has a question, or does need referrals to any service that we aren’t able to provide, other than food,” Toney said.
They have a clothes closet for students alongside the food pantry. And take donations from the community on anything that they may think is needed.
“We will utilize any donations and any kind of services and help that anyone would want to provide for our program,” she said.
Toney said, “I believe being able to just be there for them if they need help and they ask for help, that’s a big step for some. Being a positive influence for them and showing them that there are people in the community who are there for them, and who do care about them.”
For more information on this program, please visit Stilwell Public Schools' FSCS website:
