I had an absolute blast doing school safety presentations for four groups last week. I met nearly 1,000 school and law enforcement officials in Connecticut and Tennessee. I was so fired up when I finished presenting in Connecticut that I drove all the way to my next night’s hotel after forgetting something and had to drive through Hartford traffic two more times that afternoon. I was so inspired, this hardly seemed a bother.
My next presentation was in Jefferson County, Tennessee and I was equally inspired by the school safety advocates I encountered there. I had the good fortune to meet a high school administrator with a stellar record not only as an effective and contentious school official but as a United States Navy SEAL. I was deeply impressed with the Jefferson County Sherriff’s Department as well. Every school in the county has a full-time sheriff’s deputy serving as a school resource officer. While I was pleased that every SRO attended the training, I was most impressed that the sheriff, chief deputy, supervisors, and the fire chief made time for the school safety training as well. School safety is clearly a priority with the public safety agencies in Jefferson County.
The enthusiastic hugs from deputies and educators were much appreciated at the end of the presentations. While interacting with the deputies, I was as deeply impressed with them as I was with the high caliber of educators, mental health personnel, and support staff. I was so excited at the end of the day, I left my computer in the church where I presented! Thankfully, my client caught the oversight and another 90-minute drive corrected my error. Though I once forgot a power cord for my laptop, I have never made this type of error once, let alone twice! This was simply an exhilarating week working with many true professionals who care deeply about school safety. I really feel so deeply blessed to be allowed to work with so many awesome people.
I was honored to be asked the next day to present on school safety in Jefferson County again in 2014 and look forward to returning to this wonderful and beautiful community, as well as the people who make is such a special place to live and attend school.