On an early June Wednesday morning inside a classroom at the Cottage Grove Upper Grade Center in Ford Heights, Cook County Sheriff’s Office Sergeants Carol Allen and Jennifer Speiden launched into a presentation about resilience.
More Top Picks Kitchen Appliances
Their audience included 21 kids in fifth through eighth grades from Ford Heights and Robbins whose parents had signed them up for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office Leadership Academy Camp.
Administered by office’s Juvenile Justice & Advocacy Unit, the Leadership Camp’s goal is to help children learn important life skills and experience positive encounters with police.
One of several workshops in the four-day program, the program on resilience was based on presentations initially designed as peer support for police officers who must handle and emotionally process stressful life-or-death situations.
Allen, a former special education teacher, and Speiden, a mother, both work as Peer Support coordinators. They said they modified their presentation for the young audience.
Speiden tried but failed to activate a big-screen YouTube style video exploring overarching concepts of resilience. That’s when Allen quickly turned the situation into a lesson on how to improvise.
“So, what do we do when we can’t get the video to start?” she said. “Do we start crying? Do we panic? Do we say we just can’t do this presentation?”
“No, you calm down and find out how to get over the situation,” said a sixth grader whose name tag read Chrisshawn.
The room erupted with laughter. The presenters commended the boy for his suggestion, which sparked enthusiastic responses from other participants.
“It’s not that you can’t feel upset or angry,” said Allen, “but we must ask ourselves, ‘How are we going to make it to the other side of whatever we are dealing with?”
Allen asked the group to describe physical sensations associated with anxiety.
“You feel like you’re going to pass out,” said one participant.
“You feel like you’re scared,” said another.
Allen then polled the room. How did they normally get themselves to calm down?
“Count to 10.”
“Breathe slowly in and out.”
“Take a walk.”
“Listen to calming music.”
All good suggestions, Allen said. “You have a right to your feelings. It’s what you do with them that matters.”
The discussion also included communication skills, the importance of having a support system of friends and family, and the value of focusing on good things still happening in their lives despite formidable challenges. Participants also were encouraged to take purposeful action to avoid feeling helpless and to distinguish fear from reality by considering evidence and asking questions.
Other segments of the Leadership Camp included a financial literacy presentation offered through Chase Bank, a cybersecurity workshop presented by sheriff’s office information technology workers, and a meeting with the department’s K9 unit.
Each camp day started with breakfast and included lunch and snacks. On this day, the sheriff’s police grilled hot dogs in the school’s parking lot. They also played volleyball with the campers.
Building relationships with the community has been key to developing programming for the Leadership Camp program, which started in 2013, said Tisa Morris, director of Community Engagement for the sheriff’s office. “It’s also been important for other outreach efforts.”
Officials met with the Ford Heights Village Council members and school district representatives to determine types of activities that would most benefit the community, Morris said, resulting in a catalytic converter labeling event, vegetable distribution, free vaccinations and a job fair in the village.
“As far as the Leadership Camp, we’re trying to give the kids what all kids need — stimulation, new experiences, and we’re engaging them in a positive way with police officers,” Morris said. “We’re specifically here in Ford Heights because we are the police here.”
Ford Heights has long been identified as among the poorest suburbs in the nation. Having lost nearly half its population from 1980 to 2010, the community of 1,718 has suffered from crime, political corruption and decaying infrastructure. With just a few businesses, its tax base has been too small to support a police department since 2008.
More Top Picks Best Smart Bassinets
For that reason, Cook County Sheriff’s Police provide policing for Ford Heights, much as they do for other unincorporated portions of Cook County.
“We hadn’t planned on this,” said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. “But it quickly became apparent this was likely to become a long-term relationship.”
That relationship has included partnering with Ford Heights’ Park District and Pirates Little League as well as sports-related charities to establish a community ball field.
Relationship building also has included dispatching Juvenile Justice and Advocacy officers into schools to become acquainted with students and encourage them to bring sign-up forms for the Leadership Camp home to their parents.
“We introduce ourselves, let them know who we are,” said Cook County Deputy Sheriff Christopher Suggs. “At lunch time we talk to the kids. The only way to get them to come with us is to spend time with them, to get them to trust their interactions with us.”
Suggs said the camp makes a difference.
“When we come back to the school in the fall, they’re more communicative,” he said. “They’re letting us know how they’re doing, how they’re performing in school.”
Another Leadership Camp is planned for 30 students from Markham and Harvey in late June with additional presentations on CPR, tumbling and healthy eating.
Later in July, students from both camps will spend five days attending Camp Nabad, which will include field trips to the Chicago Symphony and Cook County Forest Preserves for picnicking and fishing.
“You can call what we’re doing community policing or whatever,” Dart said. “We wanted to approach this on a more wholistic level, to work within the community and find out their needs first. We just kept putting more and more things in there based on what worked and what resonated more.”
When asked what she thought about the Leadership Academy and the resilience training workshop, Brooklyn, a sixth grader from Ford Heights, said, “I liked it. It should be recognized by the world. You could learn a lot, and it’s all something you can pass on to the little ones.”
Susan DeGrane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.