LEAD
Contributor
As of Tuesday, Sept. 5, 200 students in the fourth and fifth grade at Lafayette Elementary School (LES) have begun being instructed by School Resource Officer (SRO) at Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, Jay Harris, on the proven effective curriculum implemented by LEAD (Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence). LEAD is a nationwide nonprofit that works with communities to help students understand the dangers of drugs and violence. Trained by the organization to teach the LEAD program, SRO Harris will educate the children during the school day on the risks of drugs and violence, and help them learn how to set attainable goals, manage their emotions and make wise decisions.
“We’re thrilled that kids in Lafayette County will be involved in our program, learning why avoiding alcohol, drugs and violence is vital as well as developing skills surrounding effective communication, conflict resolution and social and emotional competency, for instance,” said Nick DeMauro, CEO of LEAD. “It’s great that SRO Harris attended one of our training sessions to become a LEAD instructor. He now has the opportunity to entirely change young students’ lives as well as advance the relationship between his police department and the Lafayette County community.”
LEAD provides services “On The Street” and “In The Classroom” as it brings law enforcement and communities closer together. The “In The Classroom” program is taught by 4,200 trained instructors in 43 states. LEAD has a proven effective, law enforcement-focused anti–drug, anti–violence curriculum for K-12 students in the U.S. The LEAD curriculum is taught over the course of a 10-week program to educate youth on how they can make smart decisions without the involvement of drugs or violence.
One of the first lessons incorporated into the LEAD curriculum is how to make good decisions. SRO Harris says that he values this aspect about the program since it’s a nice way to introduce the topic of drug and violence prevention.
“Teaching children why it’s important to make intelligent decisions is a substantial part of the beginning of the program, which I think is incredibly smart,” he said. “Although the students I’ll be teaching are at the elementary level, it’s important they’re taught early in their lives, before entering middle school, that making a poor choice could completely change the outcome of their future. If they didn’t first learn about how decision making and achieving success go hand in hand, then they wouldn’t fully understand how necessary it is to avoid harmful substances and violence.”
SRO Harris already spends his days at LES with students in grades PK-5. However, he looks forward to getting to know a smaller group of those students on a more personal level as he instructs them on the curriculum implemented by LEAD
“The interaction that I’ll get to have with the kids in the classroom will allow me to learn as much about them as they will about me. Since I won’t be in my normal role, they’ll see me in a more relaxed setting, which I believe will help them to understand that I truly care for their wellbeing, and I’m someone that they can come to with any issues happening in their lives,” said SRO Harris.
“LEAD is a phenomenal, well-rounded program that I’m thrilled to implement into Lafayette Elementary School. It’s exciting to know that I could change a student’s life by preventing them from going down a bad path with alcohol, drugs or violence, and bring our police department and the community in Lafayette County closer together,” he added.