Stronger, Safer Schools

School safety is paramount and in this episode, we delve into the innovative strategies that we employ to ensure the well-being of our students. We highlight key initiatives like the Raptor Alert system and student ID badges that help in monitoring attendance and security. During our discussion, educators share their experiences and emphasize the importance of forming strong relationships with students to promote a culture of safety. 

As we navigate the complexities of school life today, issues such as vaping and the impact of social media on student behavior also take center stage. Officer Ellyson from Great Bridge Middle School joins us to provide insights into the law enforcement perspective on these issues and the vital role of open communication between students, parents, and staff. 

School safety is a collective responsibility. Discover how everyone—from school resource officers to teachers—is dedicated to creating a nurturing and secure environment. Subscribe today for valuable insights and practical tips on keeping our schools safe for everyone!

Chapters

• 0:32 Introduction to Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast
• 33:22 Exploring the Topic of School Safety
• 55:21 New Safety Initiatives Unveiled: Raptors Alert, ID Badges, and More
• 2:26:28 Teacher Perspectives on Safety Concerns and Solutions
• 6:00:02 Discussion on Vaping and Social Media Threats
• 8:56:04 Closing Thoughts on Community Responsibility for Safety

Transcript

Matt Graham: 0:00

Welcome Amplified: The Chesapeake Public Schools Podcast.

Chris Vail: 0:13

Chesapeake Public Schools is located in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. We proudly serve over 40,000 students in 45 schools and three centers. Join us as we share the stories behind our story by celebrating the people and programs that make us one of the premier school districts in Virginia.

Matt Graham: 0:33

Hey everyone, this is Matt Graham here with Chris Vail, and in this episode we had a great conversation about one of those always trending topics in education, which is school safety.

Chris Vail: 0:46

We were able to bring in the boots on the ground an elementary school teacher, middle school teacher, high school teacher and a school resource officer. They're able to share those things we can share with the community, like our new Raptor Alert app for teachers, our student ID badges initiative and, finally, our See something, Sauy something.

Matt Graham: 1:05

So listeners, stay tuned to hear the collective efforts to keep our schools safe. We have a fantastic panel of guests with us. Thank you all for being here and being on the podcast. Let's go ahead and have each of you tell us about yourself, your role with Chesapeake and how long you've been here.

Matt Barker: 1:27

All right, my name is Matt Barker. I am one of the PE teachers at Deep Creek Central Elementary School. I also serve as the crossing guard for the school and I am their school safety patrol supervisor amongst 25th grade students that I have at the building. I've been with Chesapeake Public Schools as a PE teacher for nine years now and I've been at Deep Creek Central for seven of those years.

Brittany Meier: 1:48

And my name is Brittany Meier. I eighth-grade an science teacher at Greenbrier Middle School. I have been teaching 12 years, and eight of them with Chesapeake.

Lesley Sarver: 1:56

Wonderful. I am Lesley Sarver and I teach at Hickory High School. I wear many hats. I'm the SCA advisor, I also help out with school activities and athletics, and I've been teaching for 19 years, all with Chesapeake Super proud of this place.

Chris Vail: 2:11

Well, we appreciate the three of you taking time out of your day and coming on here, so let's jump right into safety. Safety looks different you know at each grade level. Can each of you share what school safety means in your daily work and how it affects your students? Maybe how it looks in your school?

Lesley Sarver: 2:28

I can dive right into this. So at Hickory High School it is a daily conversation, it's something that we are able to talk with the students about and it's something that is a top priority, I would say. Each semester we have school grade level assemblies and we talk about the behavior expectations, but we also talk about safety. Why do we have the rules that we have, why do we have the policies that we have? And so you can kind of reason with the high schoolers a little bit more and they understand the reason behind the policies for safety and security.

Brittany Meier: 2:57

At Greenbrier Middle School it's definitely reduced and risk management. So we definitely want to prioritize safety for sure. It's definitely a top concern and we go off of our PBIS matrix where it's Paul's for success and the S in Paul's stands for safety. So always put safety first and the students are well-hearsed in that. We do review that consistently throughout the year and so it's really great for the students to dive in, give us their feedback and then that goes into our matrix.

Matt Barker: 3:27

At the elementary level we have a whole lot of safety things that we have to worry about, especially in my position as PE teacher. So I have safety in my gym, I have safety within the whole school as the whole building, within every kid, and then I also have the safety of the cars in the community when I'm doing my crossing guard directing. So just having the public and the community know what our safety guidelines are and why they're in place, and then the kids in the building knowing exactly why do we have our safety regulations, why do we have to always practice lockdowns, why do we always have to do fire drills? At that age they don't, can't quite understand that real world component where, like the older kids can, because they can associate with it, whereas the younger kids they're just expecting us to get them to safety, which is our number one job. So with them having to rely on us, that's very important for us to do.

Chris Vail: 4:09

So, before they can learn, safety is going to be the most important thing you can do in your classroom. You're all classroom teachers, so what's something that you individually do to make your students feel safe, and that could be physically or mentally.

Lesley Sarver: 4:23

So I approach it as a whole child perspective and it's great because this year one of the things that I was looking at at Hickory looking at the data of our school, because we are super successful in the academic arena but where we were lacking was with that connection piece.

Lesley Sarver: 4:38

So we implemented an advisory program this year and we are super fortunate to have a group of about 15, 16 students in our small group area and we get to meet with them monthly and talk about life, life stuff. So there is a curriculum that we follow, there are things that we cover. However, having our thumb on that 15, 16 kiddos is making a difference in every realm, every aspect of the high school. So we implemented that advisory program. But me personally, I just make sure that I know everybody's name, I know something about them outside of the classroom and then that way I can also focus on like OK, hey, if somebody's, you know, a little funky or a little off, I can dive into, well, what's going on. But, once again, just making sure that they understand that I'm here for them and I'm here to see them succeed.

Matt Barker: 5:25

I think you hit the nail right on the head there. Relationships is what it all comes down to. When a kid can trust you, they feel that safety in you, Like if they know that they can come to you with anything, or they know they can trust you with their life and be able to follow your lead and whatnot the safety patrollers that I have I also instill all of my knowledge and expertise in that realm to enter them and then have them also watch out for the littles, especially to keep them safe in the hallways, to keep them safe around the building, make sure they're going where they're supposed to and make sure they know exactly what to do if things come about 100% so, and at Greenbrier Middle School we are definitely all about building those connections.

Brittany Meier: 6:06

It's super, super important because if a kid feels that they can trust you, they're going to naturally feel safe. So building that relationship and we use our SEL CARES check-in time in the morning. We have our home room and we will check in with the student. We have various slide activities in order to foster those connections so that it carries out throughout the entire school year.

Matt Graham: 6:27

Nice and Brittany, you had mentioned earlier about the PBIS. Yes, For our listeners out there that might not know what that is, can you tell us a little bit more about it? What that is, and what it's all about?

Brittany Meier: 6:38

Yes, our PBIS system is a behavior management system that we use in order to foster great relationships with the students, along with positive behavior, and then students get rewarded, actually with behavior points. With our MTSS system in Synergy and those students that are following that matrix that we have Pulse for Success, they get those behavior points so that they know that they're doing the right thing.

Matt Graham: 7:03

That sounds great. I think that's being done at a lot of schools. I know Great Bridge Middle has PBIS. I think some other schools are all on that same thing. Matt, you're kind of a celebrity, that's what I've heard. Yeah, you have hit the jackpot this year, I would say. You are Deep Creek Central's Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Lesley Sarver: 7:22

Nice, awesome.

Matt Graham: 7:27

But he is also the Virginia Department of Transportation's Most Outstanding Crossing Guard.

Matt Barker: 7:33

Awesome, wow, thanks, thank you.

Matt Graham: 7:36

Can you take a moment and just share what that recognition means to you?

Matt Barker: 7:40

First thing, I can say is all a surprise. I mean, when I show up to work every day, I wake up every morning, I go to the job that I love to do and I just go in and I do my job. I take care of the kids, I make sure the kids are first, go in, teach them physical activities and how to keep themselves well, as well as take my duty to heart of being the crossing guard to keep the community Well. That includes our students, our staff, our parents and then the community members that live in the neighborhoods around me, like all that's personal to me. So to be recognized for both the achievement of what I'm doing in the classroom and what I'm doing outside the classroom for the community, it means a lot to me.

Matt Barker: 8:11

Like I said before, I was surprised when I both got the awards, but it lets me know that I'm doing a good job taking care of the community for our school, and I know a lot of people in our building outside in the community recognize that and they tell me every day hey, thanks for all you do, thanks for standing out here in the pouring down rain to make sure that our kids get in the building safe, or thanks for staying out here in the 19 degree weather, like an eskimo, like in antarctica, to keep these kids safe and to keep the traffic's flowing, because they definitely truly appreciate I do appreciate the community for recognizing that I have a goal out there to make sure that things stay flowing.

Matt Barker: 8:43

Uh well, to keep kids into the building and then the kids that are in the PE classes and stuff. They tell me every single day congratulations for being teacher of the year, even though I got it back in.

Lesley Sarver: 8:52

October, november. They still tell me congratulations every day, doesn't matter, that's awesome.

Matt Barker: 8:55

Yeah, so it's been a blessing.

Matt Graham: 8:57

So, matt, with that, for our listeners that are out there students, parents, families. That are out there students, parents, families what sort of advice would you like to give them about the arrival dismissal time with that crossing guard responsibilities? What's something you would want them to know Patience.

Matt Barker: 9:17

So at Deep Creek Central we have a very special traffic pattern. With those of you that may not know so. The Deep Creek Bridge that's been there forever is now finally getting reconstructed and a whole brand new bridge is being built. Well, since that bridge is so small, now there's very heavy traffic in the mornings and very heavy traffic in the afternoons. So in the morning my job is to make sure that the cars get into our building safely and then the cars are leaving the parent job offline safely.

Matt Barker: 9:41

But I'm also having to deal with cars that are coming in from the neighborhood to get to work on time and give it to the traffic that it needs to. So I see myself as more like a human traffic light is what it is. So it took me a little while to recognize the traffic patterns of how is this traffic going to flow and what's the best way for me to keep the traffic flowing. But also I have to keep walkers that come from the neighborhood. We probably have about 20 to 30 walkers that walk every morning. So between getting the traffic flowing from three different directions and then getting the kids across the street with traffic stopped too, but then getting everybody flowing again without everybody getting mad at me too much.

Lesley Sarver: 10:18

I mean occasionally you get the community member, that's having a rough morning and then I've had somebody roll their window down a couple of times and tell me a few select words.

Matt Barker: 10:30

But those things we just move on, because you know it's a busy traffic day. They're already mad that the traffic's backed up forever on with this grandy and maybe they got up late or maybe something happened. So you just got to brush those things off and keep going and keep a positive mindset and focus on the job you got to do.

Chris Vail: 10:46

So you took one of the games you probably play in P red light, green light and you get to play it with the parents in the morning.

Matt Barker: 10:51

Yes, yes, yes, yes. That's a good way to look at it like that.

Chris Vail: 10:57

So one thing I want to talk about and Brittany, we'll start with you because it just came into sixth grade and it's getting ready to get expanded to all of middle school is the student ID badges program. Can you tell our listeners what it looks like at Greenbrier Middle right now?

Brittany Meier: 11:13

Yes, I most certainly can. So our sixth graders have started it off. They wear their ID badges each and every day. I think it helps keep track of the students and ensure that everybody that's supposed to be in the building is there. And our eighth graders haven't received them yet. So I've yet to like fully dive into this experience. But we did have a behavior assembly right at the beginning of the second semester just to dive back into our expectations of safety and what will be coming their way. So they do know that these ID badges are coming their way, which we're supposed to receive them soon. So I'm excited to take a part of that.

Chris Vail: 11:46

All right. How about Matt? It's been at the elementary school for a little bit. How's it been going at Deep Creek Central?

Matt Barker: 11:52

So from a safety component it's a great idea. It's awesome for especially the younger kids, like kindergarten and first grade, because they use them in the lunch line. They're able to just scan their badge to pay for their food or account for their food, rather than having them have to type in their numbers and waste a lot of time and back then the TAs would have to help them with their numbers as they learn the numbers until they memorize them and then they use it for library to check out their books to make that process go a lot faster. But as far as like from a classroom for a PE perspective, the only thing that arises to us as teachers with PE is the safety issue of it. I know that they have breakaway lanyards that are on them, but some of those kids they're. Either they break and then they end up getting a homemade lanyard which is not a breakaway one.

Matt Barker: 12:35

So it's always in the back of our mind of like, what if this kid gets caught on a piece of equipment? Or if a kid's running around and the badge goes away and gets stuck in their arm and then ends up pulling them down to the ground or causing a choking incident? Luckily we haven't had any of those yet, which is a good thing. But most of the time we tell them to keep them inside their shirts, so they're inside their body, just so they're being a little bit more safe. Because we know the safety component of the badges is important, especially if an incident was to arise, like if we had to evacuate the building. Then it's easier to keep accountability of all the kids. If somebody goes missing, they can look at the badge and say, okay, well, this last name is this, and then somebody could take accountability of them for their teacher.

Chris Vail: 13:08

So an important takeaway for parents if the lanyard breaks, make sure you're getting a breakaway lanyard in there for safety purposes, Correct?

Matt Barker: 13:16

Because they are still expected to wear them at recess also. So and recess is unstructured play, so there's definitely the chance of it caught on a piece of equipment or, like I said, caught on another child as well. The other thing that we struggle with, too, is the kids keeping up with their own badges. There's a lot of lost badges. There's constantly badges in the lost and found in the office, or the kids just leave them at home. So our school actually created temporary badges for those kids who forget their permanent badge. So each teacher has a temporary badge on a red lanyard that has to stay within the building. So if the kid doesn't show up with the badge, teacher's like okay, well, here's your temporary one. You have to get this back to me at the end of the day. That way there's still that accountability piece. If an incident was to occur, they could still be accountable for every kid.

Matt Graham: 13:57

Okay, leslie, I wanted to ask you this and and honestly it's for the whole room here Each school level has its own unique safety challenges. What are some of those challenges that you see or that you experience? How do you overcome them?

Lesley Sarver: 14:14

I would say during drills you always worry about that kid that just left your classroom to go to the bathroom or to talk to this teacher or run to the library, and so that was always a major concern is how do I account for this kiddo? And I stress about that big time. And so with the Raptor system, all of my worries and concerns have literally gone away. We actually just had a drill yesterday and the chat feature is amazing, because if I say hey, I'm missing, so-and-so, somebody can let me know exactly where they are, but then I don't even really have to put that in the chat because everybody is being accounted for in the school. All of the concerns that I've ever really had are going to be gone with the Raptor system.

Chris Vail: 14:52

You want to explain what the Raptor app means for teachers on the phone and what it kind of looks like and how it works.

Lesley Sarver: 14:58

Sure Not super well-versed. However, like I said, we just had our first drill with it, and so what happens is, once the drill is activated, it's wild because we can get it on our phone and then we also get. So we'll get text messages, we'll hear the sound that an alert is going off, and then we also get emails. So you literally cannot miss that there is a lockdown, that there is something, there's some sort of emergency going on, and so, once we log into our app, either you can use your Chromebook or your phone. I use my phone because it's a lot easier.

Lesley Sarver: 15:27

So I log into the app and then I go ahead into the drill itself. I can pull up my roster and I can account for my kids. I account for myself, I can account for any kids that I pulled in from the hallway, and then you just kind of wait and you are being alerted each time somebody puts something in the chat. So it'll, it'll pop up. For me it was popping up blue, and so I would look at the chat and Mr Gittes, who is one of our assistant principals, he was just communicating with everybody hey, make sure that you're accounting for people that you just pulled into the hallway and just kind of walking us through, you know, step by step. But if this, if a situation does arise, that chat feature is going to be super crucial.

Chris Vail: 16:10

Yeah, part of the takeaways that we're hearing from this, though, too, is that now we've empowered teachers or employees to call a lockdown, so you've taken away that gap of having to contact administrator or contact clerical if something was to go wrong, or simple things like there's an altercation in the hallway, you can notify security, or if a child gets sick, you can let the janitor know and they can respond. And also first responders and we're going to have a first responder, a school resource officer, on in a little bit, but they're going to be notified if there's an active threat at the building. So we're eliminating that gap of time, because it's so important those few seconds, few minutes to be able to respond. But I do want to hear and I know Matt wants to hear you know what are some challenges? What's going on at schools? We parents hear about the vaping and different things. What are some things that you might be encountering at the different levels?

Lesley Sarver: 16:57

There's definitely extracurriculars going on in the, in the restrooms, and you know we try to mitigate that as much as possible and we are talking about it, but conversations definitely need to be had at home, I believe, about some of those situations. We did have a couple of situations, too, that were occurring in classrooms where they're passing a vape to another student and you don't know what is in that vape. You don't know, and I'm going to tell you to be completely honest. I'm a mother of three and we have these open, honest conversations at home just to be aware that you do not know what is in the substance or what is being given to you, and so to just be smart about things, and if you do see something, you say something.

Brittany Meier: 17:39

Right At Greenbrier Middle we definitely have had occurrences in the restroom and I think the e-hall pass has worked really well because we can see the extent of the child and how long they're out of our classroom and we know, hey, like something might be up, something might be going on, and that way an administrator can swoop in, or security guard or officer in order to help us out. So I think that's been super helpful, um, especially myself as a classroom teacher, because I can see on my chromebook if they're gone for a long period of time it changes color. So it's a great indication to keep you aware to that hey, something might just be up. Let me alert somebody.

Matt Barker: 18:16

Elementary world. We don't have to deal with too many of that stuff.

Matt Barker: 18:20

We don't have the e-hall pass system. We just we still have the hey. We have the boys passing, the girls pass, one boy goes, one girl can go and then they get back to the classroom and that. So we don't really run across those. A lot of our biggest problems that we deal with are the social problems, especially in our older students, of like the bullying they're forming their cliques and then going to pick on other kids and stuff. That's kind of our biggest complaint. But nothing external that comes into at least that I know of, from the external world, into the elementary world, which is keeping the kids socially active, but it was was socially acceptable. It's not socially acceptable.

Lesley Sarver: 18:50

I think it's good to like at the high school level. I do know that the PE and health curriculums are covering vaping and the effects that it has on your body and that could very easily start at an elementary level, go through the middle school and beyond is just taking care of yourself, being healthy.

Matt Graham: 19:04

Right, you're already talking about how you're promoting, basically, a culture of safety in your schools and in your buildings. Are there other ways that y'all are doing to help promote that culture of safety in your building?

Matt Barker: 19:16

Well, she mentioned to see something, say something. That's that's at every single building we have posters all across the wall Like if a kid sees something, say something. But because they need to know a lot of times, especially the younger ages, because there's always that, that snitch component, if they end up finding out. So it's the letting them know that it's OK to tell an adult if you see something. Like they're not going to be. Like hey, johnny came up to me and told me that you did the X, y and Z. Like that's not how we treat it as adults or teachers, like we're going to keep that kid safe, we're going to take their information that they gave us and do our research, do our research, do our investigation to go see exactly what happened.

Brittany Meier: 19:48

I always tell the students to write it down, write it on a sticky note. Here you go. You can go on my desk, I don't mind at all, like what's yours is mine in here. Guys, that kind of helps them out because it's not putting them on the spot hey, what happened? Kind of thing. It's more of like they can just leave a note on my desk and I'll get to it when I get to it and it creates that safe environment of I'm always here for you.

Chris Vail: 20:08

If you could get out one message to parents or students or even other teachers what's one thing dealing with safety or a way that they could help you, that you'd like to get out there.

Lesley Sarver: 20:19

I definitely think that in emergency situations, parents need to have patience and they need to allow the school administration and the district leadership enough time to accurately employ their investigations and then communicate what is necessary. And there also needs to be a trust component, because, I promise you, I've worked 19 years in this district. I have three children. My husband also teaches at the high school that I'm at. I have never felt unsafe. I feel like Chesapeake Public Schools has always made safety and security a top priority.

Brittany Meier: 20:53

I would agree. I'm a Chesapeake Public School alumni. I graduated from Western Ridge High School back in the day a little bit, and I've always felt extremely safe as a student and as a staff member. Today, I do think it's all about communication. If we can communicate and work all effectively together, it's going to build that strong net community and I think we already have that in place. It's just making sure we maintain it.

Matt Barker: 21:16

I think one thing parents can do to help foster what we're teaching the kids in the school systems with safety is like reiterating the importance of why do we do the fire drills, why do we have lockdown set, why do we have tornado drill set, why is the student id badges and now a thing for elementary, now going into middle school for them to reiterate what we're already teaching them in school. And I know our schools host like programs at the beginning of the year with information sessions so parents can learn about, like these new id badges that come out, what their purpose is. But having them reiterate the purpose because kids are like they're going to be hesitant to change. Um, change is hard for all of us, even as adults. But kids especially because they're so routine and they like expectations set and routines followed. So when something gets thrown at them differently, they need that consistency and that routine to build up the reasons why. Like we tell them what to do, but telling them why is a good thing as well, the open, open, honest conversation.

Lesley Sarver: 22:07

I would say one last piece too to stay away from social media. Social media fans the flame and it incites hysteria. I would say, if you do have a concern, just to communicate with your school administration via email or a phone call, but to stay away from social media.

Matt Graham: 22:24

Thank you all for coming in, for your dedication not just to teaching but to keeping our schools safe. So thank you so much for sharing this information with us and our community.

Brittany Meier: 22:34

Thank, you for having us. Thank you so much.

Chris Vail: 22:40

Hey, we're back with you now, and joining us is one of our school resource officers, officer Ellison from Great Bridge Middle School. Thanks for joining us today, thanks for having me.

Officer Ellyson: 22:53

My name is Dave Ellison. I've been with the Chesapeake Police Department now for 15 years, pretty much. Born and raised in Chesapeake, graduated from Great Bridge High School a very long time ago.

Officer Ellyson: 23:04

So I'm a product of Chesapeake Public Schools. My father taught in the system for 38 years, my stepmom taught in the system for 34 years and I've had two children graduate from Chesapeake Public Schools. One is a proud graduate of Hickory High School and participated in the Teachers for Tomorrow program. So yeah, very proud and excited to be a part of Chesapeake Public Schools.

Chris Vail: 23:26

So you're back home with the Wildcats. I am back home with the.

Officer Ellyson: 23:28

Wildcats. I am back home with the Wildcats.

Matt Graham: 23:30

So, with that, take us through a typical day of a school resource officer at Great Bridge Middle.

Officer Ellyson: 23:36

Typical day for me, arriving at the school just before 8 o'clock, checking emails for anything that may have come in overnight, anything that may have been reported. Right after that I'm heading straight to the the bus ramp and we're out there to receive the buses. We hold everybody till about 8 35 8 35. We are releasing everybody and everybody's coming into the building. So after that we're just waiting for additional late buses to come in, as we do have a few each day. So I'm typically out on the bus ramp till about nine o'clock.

Officer Ellyson: 24:04

After that I check in with the administrators and the office staff to ensure we don't have anything. You know I'm needed for assistance and then it's pretty much roaming the hallways throughout the day being seen being visible. The biggest part of my job is making sure people know that I'm there. I'm in the hallways for every class change. I'm in the cafeteria for all three grade-level lunches 6th, 7th and 8th. For all three grade-level lunches 6th, 7th and 8th I'm releasing tables, getting kids up to get their lunches and just communicating with them, and then I'm back out on that bus ramp at the end of the day assisting getting them on the buses and out safely home.

Chris Vail: 24:40

So why do you think it's important that?

Officer Ellyson: 24:41

you're in the cafeteria. One of the biggest things for me is it helps me build relationships with the kids and students and by going table to table I can pick up on things that they're talking about. It could be something simple, a topic of music. I could see something on their sweatshirt a concert that they've attended, and that's an opening for me. So, hey, that Luke Bryan. You know, when he was here it was pretty popular. We had a large student population attend that concert. So there's a lot of Luke Bryan t-shirts and sweatshirts going around.

Officer Ellyson: 25:13

So talk to them about that concert and then, next thing, you know, you're just in a conversation. They don't see you as, yes, they know that you're the officer and they know that you're there to assist them with any needs that may come up law enforcement wise, but they see you as a person and you're having that interaction and you're talking about topics that are important with them. So that's what I like to do I talk with them in the hallways, talk with them in the cafeteria. I attend all of our sporting events at the school, all the PTA functions, the school dances. I'm there. So it allows me to interact with them and they get to see me just as being a person, and I love that interaction with them. I think it's important.

Matt Graham: 25:51

Right, and how do you encourage them to speak up if there is a concern that ever arises from these interactions that you have?

Officer Ellyson: 25:58

So I know somebody touched on earlier in the podcast that you have discipline assemblies at the beginning of the year and I'm fortunate enough to where my administration brings me in and allows me to talk on some of the different topics and things that we see not only from the school level but from the law enforcement perspective, and during those particular times.

Officer Ellyson: 26:18

I reiterate the fact that I have an open door policy and my administrators and staff are amazing and they know that any time a child has an issue going on and they'd like to speak to me, they make sure that I'm available and I always make sure that I'm available. I have an open-door policy and by building those relationships and talking to them in the hallways and in the cafeteria and at the sporting events and I know you mentioned earlier the PBIS stuff I have the ability to hand out behavior points too, and they love it. So just having that communication with them makes them feel like they can come talk to me, and I do have students that come talk to me on a daily basis, which is pretty cool. You're right in the middle.

Chris Vail: 26:58

You're in the mix of it all. What would you say is one of your safety concerns from law enforcement right now that you might be seeing in the schools?

Officer Ellyson: 27:10

So I will tell you two of the biggest headaches that SROs see year to year is obviously one being the vaping issue. We know that it's not good for you but we don't really know what the long-term effects are going to be from some of these things. And I can tell you that there are a ton of manufacturers out there now and it's unfortunate that they kind of market these things and these bright packaging and colors and flavors. And we all know that they kind of market these things and these bright packaging and colors and flavors and we all know that they're not supposed to be marketed for kids and they say they're not marketed toward kids. But you know they see these bright packages and sometimes they get curious and we've had a hard time, you know, not just here in our locality but school districts abroad. We're seeing an uprise and uptick in these vaping issues and we really don't know, once you break it down, all these dangerous chemicals that could be in there or inside what they're inhaling and we're just concerned about their health. So we talk about that a lot. We bring that up in the school discipline assemblies at the beginning of the year and of course we have different aspects or time periods throughout the year we address it with the kids. We just had a change over a new semester and we're in the middle of redoing school discipline assemblies now. So to reiterate everything that we talked about at the beginning of the year.

Officer Ellyson: 28:19

But the vaping issue is a big one and probably our biggest nemesis is social media. Kids that are doing inappropriate stuff on social media, sending inappropriate content on social media. Kids that are doing inappropriate stuff on social media, sending inappropriate content on social media, saying inappropriate things or making threats, and a lot of times people don't understand that those potential things. They may not be malicious at the time, but when we go back and look at them we have to take them serious. For example, people know it's not okay to threaten somebody. However, if you threaten somebody you know and it's submitted electronically or it's submitted in writing, it changes the ballgame a little bit from the law enforcement perspective, which takes it from a misdemeanor to a felony charge. So we always encourage our parents I know I do to constantly check their child's phone. They got to remember. Kids will always say well, it's my phone, my parents don't need to be going. No, it's not your phone. Your parents are the adult, they're paying the bills that it belongs to them, and just to make sure that there's nothing going on.

Chris Vail: 29:20

Well, there's an uptick across the United States with threats to schools. If parents or students hear of a possible threat, what do you think's the best avenue for them to take?

Officer Ellyson: 29:30

so I'm glad you asked that because we get quite a few of those throughout the year. The biggest thing is we do have parents that go through their child's phone and they'll see different text threads with sometimes 10, 12 different kids and it may be something small, like you know, somebody threatening to beat somebody. We don't want parents to assume that we've been made aware of it. Sometimes we have and the situation may have already been handled. However, there are times where people say, oh, I'm sure somebody else has reported it, and then it could potentially turn into a bigger issue which we could have probably solved and handled if we knew about it up front.

Officer Ellyson: 30:06

So take the time to talk to your kids, take the time to go through their phones, be engaged in what's going on and if you see something that's not right or something that doesn't sit well with you, trust your gut. Don't wear that burden. Notify somebody and let us look into it. We'd rather take the smallest thing and investigate it and ensure that there's nothing going on, that everybody's safe. Then somebody not say anything at all and it turned into something down the road.

Chris Vail: 30:29

Yep. So the best strategy is notify that trusted adult. See, say something, say something, we've heard that. Or use the let's talk report line and don't go on social media and spread that rumor.

Matt Graham: 30:42

Right. And then there's also you got to save the evidence. You got to screen capture and save the evidence so that you can report it right.

Officer Ellyson: 30:49

Absolutely, and we tell our student population find that one person that you trust in the building. It may be your teacher, it may be one of the support staff in the office, it could be the nurse, it could be a counselor, it could be custodian that one person that you trust. And it may not be somebody in the school, it may simply be mom or dad or your uncle, aunt, but tell a trusted adult and let them make the decision on where it needs to go from there. But obviously we want to know about anything that could potentially be a safety issue, even if it's something that stems from outside in the neighborhoods, that potentially could, you know, be brought into the school because there's some animosity amongst students. So we do want to be made aware of anything that's going on, just so that we can take measures and make sure that everybody is safe.

Chris Vail: 31:39

Well, I know this is about safety, but, officer Ellison, what's the best part of your job being a school resource officer?

Officer Ellyson: 31:47

Just being with the kids. I enjoy it, the interactions. You guys know you see me at all the events. I'm at all the sporting events and the dances and I could easily find an officer to work those events. But I don't, because I love my kids, I love my population. I'm very blessed to be at Great Bridge Middle. I'm very blessed to have an administration that I work extremely well with. We are a family and in every sense of the word. I mean safety is, I mean it takes a village, it takes everybody. I mean we all have our roles, we all support each other. Again, right from the administrators, the guidance counselors, the nurses, the custodians, the support staff, we really can't do our job to the best of our ability without each other. Again, I'm very blessed to be where I'm at and I really enjoy my job.

Matt Graham: 32:33

Well, it sounds like y'all are on the same page. You got a nice team working together, not just for the education side but for the safety side, because, again, that's the most important thing is keeping our students safe. Officer Ellison, I just want to give another heartfelt thank you for all that you do and all the school officers that are out in our schools keeping our students safe. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. As you just heard, ensuring everyone's safety is a collective responsibility and reporting potential threats is one of the best ways to help protect our community. If you see something, say something by sharing your concerns on our CPS report line and let's Talk platforms available on our website and app. You can also use the Chesapeake Crime Line and, in any emergency situation, call 911. Thank you for tuning in to the stories behind our story on this episode of Amplified the Chesapeake Public Schools podcast. To hear more, visit us at cpschoolscom. Forward slash amplified and be sure to subscribe or follow us wherever you get your podcasts Bye.