From Graduate to Coordinator: Building Community, One Student at a Time

By Wilson Simpson, Community Schools Coordinator at Lakewood High School

I grew up walking the halls of Lakewood High School long before I ever imagined returning as a member of the staff. After graduating in 2011, I spent years living elsewhere, but each visit home reminded me of something steady: the pride, the familiarity, and the way this community From Graduate to Coordinator: Building Community, One Student at a Timequietly looks after its own. When the chance came to serve as Lakewood’s Community Schools Coordinator, I knew it was time to come home.

Community schools aren’t just programs. They’re partnerships. They’re the belief that when schools and communities show up for one another, students thrive.

This year has proven that again and again. Over the summer, our team helped a family restore running water after going without for far too long. Another student had a tree fall through his roof during testing season—we got the repairs done and helped him and his brother get what they needed to start fresh. These moments don’t make headlines, but they make a difference.

Our Family Resource Center has now supported more than a dozen families and students regularly use our clothing closet when they need a warm jacket or school-ready outfit. As a district, our Lakewood-area schools supported 27 families with Thanksgiving meals and are preparing Christmas gifts for several more.

High schoolers can be proud and private, so we designed our Resource Center as a small, separate building that allows families to receive support discreetly. I also work closely with teachers who know their students best. If someone needs a backpack, deodorant, or a clean hoodie, I deliver it quietly to the classroom. Often, all it takes is a simple handoff to give a student a better day.

And for many of our young men, having a consistent male figure around matters. Whether it’s a 30-second conversation about long jump or a quick “good morning, coach,” those small interactions build trust. They remind students that someone sees them.

As a Lakewood graduate, I know what it means when a school wraps around its kids. Back then, we didn’t have formal systems for supporting students in crisis. Now we do—and that changes lives.

I hope more local businesses will join us. Many of our students will go straight into the workforce, and early exposure to trades, apprenticeships, and local employers could open doors right here at home.

I’m proud to be back in the place that raised me. Proud of our students—resilient, funny, stubborn, brilliant. And proud of this community that keeps showing up for them.

If you want to get involved—whether you’re a neighbor, business owner, church member, or parent—reach out. We’ll find a place for you.

Lakewood is proving what’s possible when a town stands behind its school.