Throughout the school year, UCS 6th graders in Sterling Heights elementary schools will have a guest teacher in their classroom, a police officer from the Sterling Heights Police Department.
“Police officers go into schools in the area to talk about the consequences of drugs and alcohol, social media and bullying,” Sterling Heights Police Officer Matthew Vigradamo said. “We combine all that together so that as the students go through junior high and high school they stay on the right path and make good decisions for their future.”
The Sterling Heights educational program known as SMART Moves, standing for Skills Mastery and Resistance Training, brings an officer into the classroom to work with students over a few weeks with one 45 minute session per week.
“Officer Vigradamo has experience in the real world and sees this stuff every day – he understands what it’s like,” DeKeyser Elementary 6th grader Clara Sanjuan said. “I think it was reassuring to be taught by a professional who is in the field every day.”
To conclude DeKeyser’s SMART Moves program, DeKeyser parents and guardians were invited to celebrate the 6th graders’ completion of the program. Showcased at the celebration were self portraits and a video presentation with student reflections on what they learned.
“As a community, we always talk with our students about how important they are, how important their voice is and how they need to share their voice with others,” DeKeyser Elementary Principal Shannon Hathcock said.
“I’m so proud of the journey that the students have taken and their new knowledge of safety in today’s society,” said Hatcock.
Officer Vigradamo explained that this program not only emphasizes the importance of the partnership between UCS and the Sterling Heights Police Department, but also the partnership between the Police Department and the students.
“It is important to form that relationship with each other so they are familiarized with us and so they can make good, informed decisions going forward,” Officer Vigradamo said. “I learned from the students, and I can see that they learned a lot from my teachings, so I’m really happy about that.”
