Editor’s Note: This is the first of a series of stories about the Lawrence County and Laurel school districts’ Safe School/Healthy Students project.

Laurel and Lawrence County school districts are partnering with law enforcement and juvenile justice entities and public mental health agencies to create safer and healthier learning environments for students in pre-school through 12th grade.

They are uniting under the banner of the Crossroads of Hope Safe Schools/Healthy Students Project, which received a $1 million grant from the federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative.

“Crossroads of Hope came from I-59 and Highway 84,” said Blackledge. “We consider them the crossroads that link Jones and Lawrence counties.

“We come together in hope of making Lawrence and Jones counties a safe place for children to live and attend school,” added Blackledge. “Our primary partners are the Laurel and Lawrence County school districts. Jones and Lawrence County Law Enforcement, Pine Belt Mental Healthcare and the Southwest Mental Health Complex.”

The goals Safe Schools/Healthy students are to:

• provide and maintain a safe learning environment through increased law enforcement, community involvement and increased support for youth and their families;

• reduce the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by utilizing a resource officer and developing a cadre of trainers for evidence-based drug prevention activities;

• increase and strengthen the support structure of positive behavioral, social, and emotional growth through a community-wide comprehensive infrastructure to deliver services to students and their families;

• improve student and family access to high quality mental health services through a school-based system that ensures early identification of students and families and the provision of prevention and early intervention services for all students needing mental health services and;

• develop a plan and continuum of services for identifying and serving children and families in need of services through community and parent liaisons and collaboration of appropriate support agencies.

Project coordinator Abby Cothern said Safe Schools/Healthy Students will address everything from bullying and teen moms to tobacco and drug use and mental health issues. “A lot of work has gone forth to get us to this point,” said Cothern.

At a recent meeting of the project’s core management team, Cothern said it is good to finally have bodies to work with. “How wonderful it is to see a group of people from Lawrence, Jones and Laurel work together for the betterment of students,” she said. “Now that we have gotten people together, student’s lives can be touched, lives can be changed.

“I’m really excited about the training that will be taking place in the next few weeks and the sharing between the school districts, law officials, early childhood educators and others.”