[July 19, 2011] New program keeps school officers connected with kids during summer break Tweet NEWPORT NEWS, Jul 18, 2011 (Daily Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Skylah Pennell was unsettled when she first noticed two police officers at the Boys & Girls Club in Denbigh where she attends summer camp. "I kinda got scared and wondered if there was something wrong or if someone did something bad," the 10-year-old said. "But after a few days, I started to talk to them and we started playing ping pong." That shift from fear to friendly interaction when youth see police officers is among the goal of a new program in which school resource officers spend summer break at Boys and Girls Clubs in the city. Since late June, Dierdre Peters, an officer assigned to Passage Middle School, has been one of two officers who spend each weekday at the club interacting with the 6 to 16-year-olds there. There are about seven more officers deployed to the five other Boys & Girls Clubs open in the city this summer, she said. The officers jump rope, swim and play games alongside students as a way of showing them that while officers are authority figures, they also care about the students and don't just lock people up when there's trouble. The district's 12 school resource officers are stationed at middle and high schools. Peters said the program gives them a chance to build relationships with elementary students so it's less of a shock when they enter middle school and see police officers. A couple of students initially treated Peters with suspicion and didn't want to be around her, she said, but they warmed up after seeing her pushing kids on the swing and playing games with them. There are about 200 children at her club. "They all want to see if they can beat a police officer," said Peters, who added that she also works as a coach -- teaching children how to swing a baseball bat, serve a volleyball, play by the rules and be fair with each other. She doesn't carry a police radio at the club, but said she wears a gun holstered at her right hip because she can get pulled into action at any time as an officer. If it wasn't for the new program, Peters said she'd be working in the special victims unit, where she spent eight years before her last two years in schools. To see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dailypress.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Daily Press, Newport News, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]