WHERE DO I STAND?

  

BLOCK vs. SEVEN-PERIOD CLASSES

When I was in school, we had seven-period school days. I didn't feel that I was lacking any education or missing out. Now that I am a Criminal Justice Instructor, I can't imagine trying to teach everything my students need to know in a short, 45 minutes period.  I fully believe that block scheduling works best for our teachers and students. It gives our teachers more time to get their lesson content completed and gives more opportunity to help their students fully understand that content. 

School Safety

School shootings have been making the news headlines far too often in the past couple of years. I want to be pro-active and not re-active about protecting our students and school staff. As a former police officer, I know when someone calls 911, that person is expecting an immediate response. The officer assigned that call for help may be across town and even though they are racing to the scene, several minutes may pass and great damage may have already been done. In an active shooter scenario, every second counts. If we have a school resource officer stationed or a retired police officer in every school, they can respond to a potential threat immediately and prevent horrific tragedy.  I also believe in arming our teachers.  I would not be opposed to arming the teachers who wish to go through advanced monthly training.  The legislature would have to approve this however before it would be allowed. 

 BULLYING

Bullying is such a problem not only in our county and state but all across the United States.  I traveled to meetings all over the state about bullying, and I encountered the same thing.  Everyone is talking about bullying, but no one has a clear plan on how to solve it.  I watched the schools spend thousands to bring in speakers year after year to do school assemblies yet nothing changed. I heard over and over these speakers tell kids that to stop being bullied they need to get involved in sports.  That sounds fine but doesn't solve the problem. I sat down with Officer Jamie Hamrick from Bridgeport PD and former Officer Josh Skiviat with Clarksburg PD, and together we came up with the WeTakeAStand.com anti-bullying program.  It has received local, state, and national awards. The program is 100% free - saving the county thousands. It empowers the student, the parents, and the schools with a program that works. The program has been implemented in several school across WV and is going so well that it is being looked at as the recommended anti-bullying program by NASRO (National Association of School Resource Officers).  Check out the website for more information at WeTakeAStand.com