H7 Story: SRO Appreciation
By Bob Radank (South Greene Campus Pastor)
If you’re a parent of school aged children, you would know that each school has a School Resource Officer (SRO). These professionals are sworn law-enforcement officers with arrest powers who work, either full or part time, in a school setting. While they train at the same level of police officers, many of them receive extra training to know how to work with youths, often in mentoring and counseling capacities.
A few weeks ago, on National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, all three CPs (Tommy Staggs, Tyson Hodge, and I) brought a gift of thanks to the SROs at Greeneville, Chuckey Doak, and South Greene High Schools. Joetta Shelton, from the Afton Campus, took tool bags and loaded them with fun snacks and car cleaning supplies. Because their important job often goes unnoticed, we wanted the SROs to know how much they mean to our community, showing them that FCC is for Greene County because God is for Greene County.
As the Campus Pastor for FCC South Greene, I have had the privilege of getting to know Teddy Lawing, the SRO at South Greene High School, who also helps as one the uniformed officers during our services at South Greene. When I presented the gift basket to him, he was overwhelmed with gratitude and humbled by FCC’s generosity towards him.
One thing that has stood out in my interaction with Teddy is that he takes his job seriously, not just throughout the week at South Greene High School, but also in how he has integrated himself into the service culture of FCC! Each week, he (and the other uniformed officers in the rotation) intentionally help the FCC South Greene Guest Team in a variety of ways, such as greeting guests, setting up and taking down signs, cleaning floors, loading cases, and packing up curtains. Teddy has also adopted FCC South Greene’s fun by cutting up and joining in on the sarcasm with volunteers during set up and clean up. It’s all par for the course with being a part of the South Greene team!
In a recent conversation I had with Teddy, he told me the reason he wants to do more than just provide security on Sundays is because he recognizes God’s work at FCC and he “considers himself part of the FCC family.” Lawing added that he is grateful for FCC’s heart for Greene County and he, in turn, wants to be a part of what God is doing.
One thing that has stood out in my interaction with Teddy is that he takes his job seriously, not just throughout the week at South Greene High School, but also in how he has integrated himself into the service culture of FCC! Each week, he (and the other uniformed officers in the rotation) intentionally help the FCC South Greene Guest Team in a variety of ways, such as greeting guests, setting up and taking down signs, cleaning floors, loading cases, and packing up curtains. Teddy has also adopted FCC South Greene’s fun by cutting up and joining in on the sarcasm with volunteers during set up and clean up. It’s all par for the course with being a part of the South Greene team!
In a recent conversation I had with Teddy, he told me the reason he wants to do more than just provide security on Sundays is because he recognizes God’s work at FCC and he “considers himself part of the FCC family.” Lawing added that he is grateful for FCC’s heart for Greene County and he, in turn, wants to be a part of what God is doing.
Tommy Staggs, Afton Campus Pastor, said this about his interactions with the SROs at Chuckey-Doak High School: “When we first started our Afton campus, the CDHS SRO was Wayne Wilhoit, who now serves as our uniformed officer each week at the Greeneville Campus. It has been wonderful to develop a relationship with him at CDHS and now to have him be part of our community every week.”
Tyson Hodge, Greeneville Campus Pastor, shared with me his Sunday experiences with Wayne Wilhoit: “Wayne not only faithfully serves the Greeneville community, but, while helping us at FCC, he often thinks like a Guest Team member and keeps an eye out for new guests and points them out to me or others.”
Tommy shared more about his experiences with CDHS SROs: “I always enjoy my interactions with the SRO at CDHS. Currently, Saul Mancha serves as the CDHS SRO. He is the officer that I delivered the gift basket to recently. Saul was so thankful that we thought of him and was humbled by the recognition. Part of what makes the SRO such a unique role is how they become such an integral part of the school community. Because serving and partnering with the CDHS community is at the center of our mission at FCC Afton, it was especially valuable for us to recognize Saul and acknowledge the importance of his service. We are thankful to stand alongside him, and so many others who are daily investing in building the Afton/Chuckey community.”
So, the next time you see a School Resource Officer, let them know how much you appreciate their valuable work!
Tommy shared more about his experiences with CDHS SROs: “I always enjoy my interactions with the SRO at CDHS. Currently, Saul Mancha serves as the CDHS SRO. He is the officer that I delivered the gift basket to recently. Saul was so thankful that we thought of him and was humbled by the recognition. Part of what makes the SRO such a unique role is how they become such an integral part of the school community. Because serving and partnering with the CDHS community is at the center of our mission at FCC Afton, it was especially valuable for us to recognize Saul and acknowledge the importance of his service. We are thankful to stand alongside him, and so many others who are daily investing in building the Afton/Chuckey community.”
So, the next time you see a School Resource Officer, let them know how much you appreciate their valuable work!