Jeremy Parton, executive director of the Haywood Pathways Center guest spoke at Waynesville Middle School on Friday, November 20. He visited several 7th grade classes to share information and stories about the Haywood Pathways Center, the homeless shelter in Hazelwood that opened one year ago. Students are currently learning  about homelessness on a global and national level. Mr. Parton visited to bring a local perspective to the issue. Students will be writing a research paper or completing an extension activity on this topic, so Mr. Parton offered a lot of helpful facts about homelessness in Haywood County.

Having this guest speaker really helped the students understand that homelessness isn’t just an issue in big cities or foreign countries. They also learned for the first time that many children are homeless.  This fact really impacted the students.  Throughout the month of December, 7th grade students at WMS collected coats and other winter clothing to donate to the Haywood Pathways Center.  The teachers and students truly appreciated Mr. Parton taking his time to share his knowledge on this important issue.

Submitted by: Susanna Barbee, Waynesville Middle School