Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools May/June 2016 | Page 8

SRO of the year believes building a rapport with students is vital

Visibility, involvement and building a rapport with students seem
to be the secrets to being a great school resource officer.
It’s these characteristics that helped Union County Sheriff’s Deputy
Yohance Prince become the 2016 UCPS School Resource Officer of
the Year. The announcement was made Thursday (April 7, 2016)
during the fifth annual SRO of the Year ceremony held at the UCPS
Professional Development Center in Monroe. Prince is the SRO at
Forest Hills High School.
“Thank you,” Prince said as he accepted the plaque for the top
officer title. “It’s a great honor. I appreciate the opportunity to be an
SRO because you get to feel like you’re really making a difference.
You’re on the front lines helping these kids out. I love and care about
the kids of Union County and I try to do my best to represent the
Sheriff’s Office to the best of my ability every day.”
Two others SROs were nominated with Prince for the top title.
Union County Sheriff’s Lt. William Thompson introduced both Prince,
and Deputy David Ludlow, an SRO at Piedmont High School.
“Deputy Ludlow has been a great addition to Piedmont High
School,” Thompson said. “He’s been with the sheriff’s office for eight
years, and an SRO for three years. He was nervous at first to become
an SRO, but he has done a wonderful job. He’s a baseball coach, a
basketball coach, he’s a teacher, a carpenter, a mechanic – he’s just a
great all-around officer.”
Monroe Police Sgt. Dennis Nash talked about the third candidate,
Monroe Police Officer Paul Parrette.
“He has done an excellent job of getting to know the kids and the
community at Monroe High School,” Nash said. “He does lots of home
visits with the students. He is involved with the mentoring program
at the school. He does a great job mentoring kids. He teaches DWI
awareness and the dangers of drugs.”
Forest Hills Principal Dr. Kevin Plue said Prince lives the part of
the SRO model and understands the importance of being the liaison
between law enforcement and the community.
“He is law enforcement and can take on that role if we need him
to, but he really spends the majority of his time building a bridge
between law enforcement and our community through our children,”
Plue said.
Prince said he strives to be the “resource” not the “officer” in the
SRO title.
“I’m not there to intimidate them, I’m there to reach out to them
and ask what they need. If you help one student out, then that
student will tell others, ‘That officer really looked out for me. He
really helped me.’ Good news spreads just like bad news.”
At-large Board of Education member Christina Helms assisted in
the presentation. “As a parent and a former substitute teacher, it’s
been great seeing your interaction with the kids,” she said to the
room filled with SROs. “As a mom, I appreciate you being at school to
protect my child. As a parent, it makes it so much easier to send our
kids to school. You are appreciated.”
Dr. Mike Webb works with the SRO program as part of his role
as Deputy Superintendent. “You do some amazing things everyday,
serving as mentors to our children, and providing a safe environment
for our staff, students and the community as they come in and out,”
Webb said. “As a former high school principal, from the bottom of my
heart, I can not thank you enough. I thank you for what you do every
day for our children. God bless you for doing it every day.”
Superintendent Dr. Mary Ellis addressed all the law enforcement
officers present, thanking them for their service.
“We at Union