By Katie Harmon
After meticulous training and a ceremony kicked off by the precision of the State Department of Corrections Honor Guard, seven students at Sliney Elementary School have been inducted as members of a new school Safety Patrol.
They were honored January 12 with certificates and badges presented by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Tranberg and Sliney Principal Dr. Maria Clark. The Branford Buzz attended the ceremony.
The group has been brought back to the school after its establishment in 1922, a time when most students walked to school. With the rise of motorized vehicles on the streets, police departments teamed up with schools to ensure that students arrived to and from school safely.
The students were trained by school security officer Luis Castro.
Safety Patrol is adapting with the changing times and the new challenges students are facing. Now, safety officers learn how to be on alert and aware of their environment to help with anything from an evacuation to standing up for a friend, Castro said.
“It allows them to flourish and be part of something,” said Castro of the program.
He hopes Safety Patrol will grow in the years to come, as younger students will be inspired by the brave seven inducted in its first year back.
At the request of Clark, on behalf of a parent of a student patroller, the names of the patrollers was not available to be listed with this article.
One member said he wanted to join the group “to be a good example and a role model for the younger kids.”
