In a classroom at Indian Creek High School this week, 30 students gathered to study how the adolescent brain worked and the needs of special needs students.
The pupils were police officers from across the nation, who came for a week-long National Association of School Resource Officers training. By the end of the week, the officers will be certified school resource officers.
Several of the officers will begin patrolling Indian Creek Schools in January, as one officer will be on duty each day in the school district.
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The national training program included understanding how adolescents operate, and reminding police officers of their mindset as teens, which is key in relating to students, instructor Mike Fisher said.
He also taught the officers about violence, victimization and school law and preventing violence in schools. He’s been teaching police officers across the country for 18 years. His goal has been to teach officers to build relationships as a way to keep schools safe, rather than instilling fear in children.
“It’s about building relationships and engaging kids — building relationships is key in any school resource officer,” Fisher said. “We hit different topics throughout the week mostly about being a mentor, building relationships and working to keep schools safe.”
Indian Creek schools is joining a growing number of districts who have employed school resource officers. Eight police officers will patrol the district on a part-time rotating basis, with one working per day.
Indian Creek Superintendent Tim Edsell said when school resource officers are on duty, they will be asked to do more than make sure students aren’t violating school policy.
“We want them to be highly visible, we want them to develop relationships with students,” Edsell said. “We want them to be visible in the cafeteria, walking through all four of our buildings: elementary, intermediate, middle and high school. They may talk to different classrooms on school safety.”
Whiteland police officer Crystal Hearne will work part-time at both the Clark-Pleasant and Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson school districts. She said the sessions on interacting with children with special needs were especially helpful.
“It puts a lot of things in perspective, how I’ve handled certain situations when I’ve been on patrol.” Hearne said. “It’s not only good for us but for everyone. People who appear normal to us may have special needs. It puts in perspective how to talk to someone.”
Paul Petty is about to become a school resource officer in Pike County, Illinois. He said the training helped him see how some children learn differently, and it opened his mind to understanding how to handle situations that are not black and white.
“There’s a lot of gray in the development of a child’s mind. Understanding that will help us play a vital role in the evolution of education and assisting kids get through the most difficult time of their life.”
