Safety Improves At McKee Middle School Thanks To Crimestoppers Youth Patrol
We have an exclusive story for you tonight. Crimestoppers is teaming up with one Montgomery Public School to increase safety. School officials say since they’ve implemented its Crimestoppers Youth Patrol this school year, they’ve seen a huge change in students’ behavior. If you’re walking the hallways at McKee Middle School in Montgomery, you may see a few students in neon green shirts. What they’re doing is making a difference in nearly 900 students’ lives. McKee Middle Schoolers say their hallways were very different six months ago. They say it’d get a little chaotic. “There used to be fighting and kids used to try to smoke on school grounds,” Said seventh grader, Alaceia Taylor. “People are just running around the hallways they’d just skip class and hang back sometimes,” Said seventh grader, Christian Dixon. But things have since changed inside the middle school… and the change comes in neon green shirts with the Crimestoppers Youth Patrol. Not one or two students are trying to change the atmosphere of McKee Middle School — about 40 students are partnering with their school resource officers and Crimestoppers. “You’ve got to stay focused! Because we want to keep Mckee free of drugs, free of weapons and free of all these fights we have,” Said one of the resource officers to the students as he was encouraging them before the morning bell rang. The Youth Patrol’s role is to watch the hallways and make McKee a safer school, where students aren’t skipping class. Crimestoppers hopes the program serves an even bigger role in students’ lives and impacts them in the real world. “You know, I think it’s really going to help them be successful it empowers them to be leaders. It empowers them to step up a notch,” Said Susan Moss, Director of Central Alabama Crimestoppers. It’s program eighth grader, Jay-Nesha Edwards says has stepped students out of trouble on the streets. “And it just helps you out. Keep people off the streets and stuff. It just helps me as a better person,” Said Edwards. In talking to several of these students, they told us they’re taking what they’re learning from the program back to their homes. They hope in turn, that could help change the community by deterring crime as students become older. Because of the drastic change in the school’s atmosphere, those students will be presented with Scholastic Crimestoppers Award at next month’s annual Crimestoppers luncheon. If you’re school is interested in having a Youth Patrol or if you’d like to donate to the program, call Crimestoppers at 215-STOP.
