Officers finding ways to make a positive impact in school districts

Officers finding ways to make a positive impact in school districts
Dave Mast

Holmes County Sheriff’s officer Cory McVicker has become a part of the daily activities in the West Holmes School District. A former WHHS student himself, McVicker has enjoyed the chance to reconnect with the school district and give back. Whether it is patrolling for safety reasons or playing four-square with elementary kids, the idea is to build relationships so the students feel comfortable having him around.

                        

A walk through any of the schools throughout Holmes County reveals many things about a school. Teachers can be heard educating, laughter wafts down the hallways as students enjoy lunch and many other sounds emanate throughout the walls and halls of each school, whether it is elementary, middle school or high school.

However, as the possibility of outbreaks of violence and catastrophe continue to grow in school districts throughout the United States, both school districts have taken proactive steps to provide another layer of security for schools.

The newest step for both districts is teaming up with the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and hiring one police officer on each end of the county who will be dedicated to patrolling each of their district’s schools.

The officers will vary their weekly schedules, West Holmes Superintendent Bill Sterling calling it “being systematically unsystematic.” Throughout the week the officers will travel from school to school on an arbitrary schedule to check in and provide an additional layer of safety while being a resource for each school.

Sterling said the transition to the new endeavor has gone smoothly as the schools work closely with the Sheriff’s Office, and he said it is one of several directions schools all over the nation are taking in providing for their staff and students.

“It’s just one of the variety of measures schools are taking to be proactive and provide another level of safety,” Sterling said.

Sterling said he connected with the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office last school year with about three months remaining to inquire about having an officer on the high school premises, a cost the district paid for out of its budget.

This year they reconnected, as did East Holmes, and worked together to devise a game plan that would allow the schools to pay to have a traveling, full-time officer on the district grounds for nine months of the year while the Sheriff’s Office would fund them during the three summer months. They also connected with the Holmes County commissioners, and together they came up with a game plan.

Part of the decision on who to hire was given to the school districts, and Sterling said they liked the idea of finding a local officer who was familiar with the district, and that ended up being officer WHHS graduate Cory McVicker.

However, Sterling said more than just safety played into the decision.

“We wanted someone with whom we felt the kids could develop a relationship with and connect with,” Sterling said. “Cory was ideal. We felt it was important the kids understand that these officers are here to serve them and help them rather than being someone who is there to catch them doing something wrong, and Cory’s personality fits that perfectly.”

Sterling said developing a relationship between officer and students shouldn’t take long, and while they would prefer not to have to face these types of decisions, it is the way the world is moving.

“It’s been awesome,” McVicker said. “One of the big reasons I wanted to be a part of this was to change the perception of police officers for our younger school children. They don’t often get to see us in this light.”

McVicker said it hasn’t taken long for the elementary school children to pick up on his presence, and they have enjoyed it. He said high fives and smiles are already the norm.

“It’s nice to get into the school and let the kids realize that we as officers are just caring people too,” McVicker said.

His schedule is not set, so he can hop from school to school and do his own thing within each school. He said it is enjoyable getting to know the youth in the district. As a West Holmes graduate with two children, it has touched home with him, and being able to give back to the school district that gave him so much is a joy.

“I’ve still got teachers at Killbuck and at West Holmes who taught me who are still there, so that is kind of neat,” McVicker said.

In the East Holmes School District, officer Josh Summers is patrolling. He too has taken to the idea of being able to connect with the kids and the staff while at the same time providing a sense of safety.

“It’s still new, and while it is unfortunate that today’s society has kind of pushed schools into this being a necessity, it gives us a chance to show all the students we are just people doing our job,” Summers said.

Like McVicker, Summers has already developed a relationship with the student bodies at each school. It is not uncommon to see them sitting down at the lunch tables or playing games and sharing jokes with the students.

Summers said the idea of the county providing an officer to each school district is new, but it will become normal quickly.

“We all have to go into it with open minds and flexibility,” Summers said. “The idea of getting around to each of the eight buildings and showing my face so kids become familiar with me is good, and I want to make that time quality time. I think we have an opportunity and a responsibility to be role models as well as protectors of the kids and staff. It’s a big responsibility that we take seriously, but at the same time we want it to be a comfortable and fun one for the kids.”

“We want to be able to use him as a resource for our school-safety drills in the classrooms and even in the building assembly as chances arise,” Erik Beun, superintendent of East Holmes Schools said.

Like Sterling, he said it is unfortunate these types of steps must be taken in the school district, but as the world changes and evolves, decisions oftentimes have to be made for the good of the staff and students.

“It’s important because school safety is definitely on people’s minds,” Beun said. “We just want to be as proactive as possible with the safety of our students and staff, and I feel good about the direction we have taken.”

In the best of all worlds, a school district would not need the services of a police officer. However, with the world being what it is today, both schools have gone to great lengths to make sure the teaming up of school districts and the sheriff’s officers will create some positive opportunities that open up avenues that will pay dividends in both safety and relationships.


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