For some students, the Junior Police Academy program at Bayfield Middle School has affirmed their interest in police work.
For others, it's shown what is involved in working for police departments, as well as a host of other local, state and federal law agencies.
But they all agree it's been a learning experience.
Junior Police Academy is a national program in its first semester at BMS, and next year Cpl. Dan Cyr wants to teach a more advanced version at Bayfield High School.
Cyr is the new School Resource Officer for the Bayfield Marshals Office. In addition to the academy class, he rotates between BMS and BHS, getting to know students, talking about what interests them, and potentially preventing juvenile crime.
In the BMS class, Cyr and his students work through two or three chapters of the JPA workbook every week, and for the rest of the daily classtimes, Cyr engaged a variety of speakers from the field of law enforcement, as well as some agencies that work with police.
Cyr has taught police academy classes in Colorado for 17 years. But he admits there is a difference between teaching adults, who are often focused military vets, and a group of 11 seventh- and eighth-graders.
"They're just so, LOUD," he said, talking over a group of chattering 12- and 13-year-olds who were simultaneously writing thank you notes to their class speakers, looking for paper, and having him check their drafts before creating a final version. "I've had to switch gears."
One of the favorite assignments was a visit to the Bayfield Marshal's Office to train with a computer-simulated training tool.
The program has decisional shooting scenes, and Cyr said at first, every kid was firing away, like he was playing a video game.
"By the end of the class, they were making more mature decisions," he said. One aspect of police work he's tried to highlight is that officers spend much of their time communicating - both to offenders and the general public. They have to de-escalate tense situations, but also explain laws and try to help people to not break them.
Speakers came and addressed the class from the La Plata County Sheriff's Office and SWAT team, National Forest Service, Ft. Lewis College Police, a school safety department, Colorado State Patrol, and the brand inspector's office (yep, he's a law enforcement officer, too.) Also addressing the class was Christian Champagne, an assistant district attorney, and Maura Demko of the Sexual Assault Services Organization. She discussed how her group and volunteers work with police to help victims of sexual assault.
La Plata County Judge Martha Minot conducted a mock trial in the class.
The topic: did Cyr breach a contract with a student by not buying him a soft drink, which he had promised to do?
Cyr was found not guilty, in large part because he hadn't said WHEN he would buy the student the drink.
He will by the end of the semester, Cyr said.
Hearing from varying fields of law enforcement and courts was an interesting part of the class, students said.
"We get to meet new people," student Jacqueline George said of the class. She's not sure if she's interested in a career in law enforcement, but she did like hearing from the employee of the U.S. Forest Service.
The class had another benefit for George, as well. Through it, she was nominated for a Safari Club International Legacy award. She won the prize - a 7 millimeter Weatherby rifle and a guided hunting trip. George said she hasn't been hunting before, but she's looking forward to the opportunity.
John Foutz, another seventh grader, said he's always been interested in being a police officer, so he wanted to take the class. Checking out the SWAT team gear and sniper rifles was one of his favorite experiences, he said.
The guns were unloaded, he added.
