A Trip of a Lifetime
Boyd County Sheriff’s Department Helps School Safety Patrols Experience History
Grace Phillips
Ashland Beacon
Everyone who drops a child off at an elementary school has seen them…safety patrol students. These students are there to assist with getting the other students safely into the school. They don’t direct traffic; their job is to direct students.
For many years, the Ashland Independent School District has had safety patrols in every school. At the end of the year, the students are rewarded for their hard work and dedication with the trip of a lifetime. Sadly, the students in many area schools were not awarded this opportunity… until now.
Thanks to Boyd County Sheriff Jamie Reihs and Deputy William Rudie, safety patrols in Boyd County and Russell will be able to participate in a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia this year.
Sheriff Reihs said he remembered taking the safety patrol trip to Washington, D.C. when he was in school. “I don’t remember it all, but I remember bits and pieces of it because of the history and the meaning behind it.” He continued, “When I first came into office, I talked with Bill Rudie, one of my school resource officers, and Lisha Branham that had taken over at Catlettsburg. I told them we needed to try to put together our safety patrol here in Boyd County, so they get to have that same experience.”
Sheriff Reihs said they no longer go to Washington, D.C. but are going to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. It is still an amazing learning experience for them. The students learn so much while serving on the safety patrol.
To be chosen for the safety patrol, a student must have good grades, be responsible, be a good leader and make good choices. Reihs continued, “Being a part of the safety patrol helps them to learn responsibility and be good role models for the other students to look up to. The trip at the end of the school year will give them something to look forward to and serve as a reward for the jobs they have done during the year.”
Each member of the patrol has a job to do and it varies by school due to the diversity of the locations in Boyd County. “In some schools, they assist with opening the car doors while in others they may direct them from the sidewalk and open doors to the school building.”
Deputy Rudie and Sheriff Reihs have also invited Russell schools to participate in the program.
There are approximately 64 students at this time who are registered to go to Williamsburg in April. The cost of a venture such as this is phenomenal and include: transportation by charter buses, hotel, food, admission to the venues and other miscellaneous costs. “It is our goal to raise enough money to cover the bus and hotel costs for every student going. Of course, the ultimate goal would be if we could cover the entire cost for them.” He continued with a chuckle, “We got started late with our fundraising, so we are asking for an absolute miracle but it would be nice.” According to Reihs, Lisha Branham at Catlettsburg has been able to raise enough funds to totally cover the cost for the students there. He said the main reason is there is a smaller number of students at Catlettsburg as compared to Summit and Cannonsburg. Even though her students are covered, she is not resting. Branham is now helping raise funds for the other schools.
Each school will be holding different types of fundraisers in the coming months to help offset the cost for their patrol members. Sheriff, Reihs said they have set a big goal of $50,000 to raise. “Individuals and businesses have been so responsive to our requests for donations, but we still have a long way to go.” He went on to say that no donation is too small; they will be thankful for any amount even if it is one dollar.
When I heard the figure $50,000, I too felt like it would be a miracle to raise this amount in the next few months. The economy is tight, and there aren’t many people who could donate $100 or more. I decided to run some math and was amazed at how simple this would be in reality. If just 2,500 people—individuals, doctors, lawyers, insurance agents, small-business owners, etc. would donate $20…JUST $20…their goal of $50,000 would be met in no time and give these young people the experience of a lifetime. Let’s flood the sheriff’s office with $20 bills and make this a reality.
If you would like to donate to the safety patrol trip, you can bring it by the sheriff’s office in Catlettsburg, call them and they will make arrangements to pick up the donations or you can mail it to the sheriff’s office. The Boyd County Sheriff’s Office is located at 2900 Louisa Street, Catlettsburg. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 558, Catlettsburg, Kentucky 41129 or phone number 606.739.5135. The Boyd County Safety Patrol program is a 501c3 organization, and all donations are tax-deductible.