What a treat it was to sit down and interview this guy! He is warm, kind, and you won’t believe what he does in his free time! He is a good man and I hope this week you all will get to see what a blessing he is to our school and community. Troy, along with his sister, was born and raised in Colorado by his parents . His dad was a police officer with the Commerce City Police Department until he retired in 1989. His mother stayed at home with the kids until they were old enough to go to school. After a short stint in restaurant management, she worked for the Aurora Public School System. She, herself recently retired and is enjoying retirement. He is married to a wonderful woman and together they have a daughter who is in her Junior year of high school at Ponderosa High in Parker. “My daughter is an awesome basketball player, we love to watch her play,” He shared with pride. For the past 5 years, he and his family have been heavily involved in a program called Royal Family Kids. It is a nonprofit organization in Parker that supports kids in the foster program. There are 3 components to this program. “From September to May, every Saturday we hold what are called Clubs. The kids come to a local church and participate in different activities each month. Then, attached to that, is our mentoring program. I myself have a couple of little guys that I work with, my wife has a little girl she mentors and works with and then, of course, my daughter has a little girl as well. My daughter has built a sweet and neat relationship with her and can’t wait for Saturday so that they can spend time together. The third component is our summer camps program. As adults, you are paired with a partner to take 3-4 kids under your care at this camp. We kayak, rock climb, swim, play games, and provide opportunities that most of these kids won’t otherwise get. We celebrate birthdays on one day at camp because a lot of these kids have never experienced that. It is a great time, a wonderful way to give back and something I am really proud of,” Troy said. From there Troy realized that once the program ended at 12 years old, there was not another program for these hard “teen years” and he wanted to have something that would support those kids, so, they created Kings Teens, another support, mentoring and club program for the older kids. Their camp is in July and it is very similar to what happens with the younger kids. Birthday parties, opportunities to ride horses, rock climb, and many other events during that week. “As a product of a divorced family at the age of 12, I realize how hard those years can be, and if we can help these kids through that by providing the support that they need, then we have created something good. Camps are tough for us though. With the younger kids, we have enough women volunteers and not enough men, for the older kids, it is the opposite. We are in need of people who can give some time in either of these programs to help these kiddos out,” he stated. If you are interested in finding out more, please visit royalfamilykids.org and kingsteencamp.org or reach out to Troy directly. So, what is a School Marshal, and is that the same as a School Resource Officer? Although they do have some similarities, no, they are two different positions. A School Resource Officer, or “SRO” for short, is dedicated to one location all the time throughout the school year. A School Marshal is a position that was created after the Sandy Hook Incident when officials realized that our elementary schools were not protected like the middle and high schools. The dynamic surrounding school shootings in the country was and is a big deal. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and the Town of Castle Rock developed the School Marshal’s program. In the beginning, it was just whoever signed up to be that person for the day, got to be that person for the day. It was called an overtime assignment, such as the movie theaters, churches, or other locations in town that wanted a law enforcement presence. Officers signed up for it, were paid overtime for it, and so forth. However, the Town of Castle Rock realized the importance of this program and dedicated officers just to it. Castle Rock has one SRO with each of the high schools, and two School Marshals, one dedicated to the East Side and one dedicated to the West side of I-25. These are now positions that you have to apply for, and no longer are considered part of the overtime assignment categories. Troy has worked for Castle Rock for 21 years now and the last three years, at his request, has been assigned and qualified as a School Marshal. He explained that the Marshals do not wear police uniforms or drive marked cars but are readily recognizable and suitably trained to respond to any potential difficulties. This softer approach allows children to relate better to the Marshals as they become acquainted. The Marshals have parking spots that are not open to the public so their equipment is readily available if needed. The Marshals are required to be in each of their assigned schools every day. In Troy’s case, there are 9 elementary schools he rotates through each day. He says the best part of his job is being able to eat and play and get to know the staff and the students and establishing relationships and trust. His primary goal is to be involved in the schools: to make a connection with every student, staff, and family member he can! When asked if he had concerns about any of the schools, he said that some of the older schools were built when there was no thought of securing the buildings or locking them down. Different schools are handled differently due to the actual available space. He wished we could build new schools with all the safety facilities possible for all students, recognizing the impossibility of that. His other concern is that the life situations that students face can be alleviated at school, and many times the positive results can be lost when they return to the stressful situations at home. Making positive connections and establishing a safe place for these kids, and all our kids at our schools, is important. Obviously, the overall function of the SRO and School Marshal programs is to protect the students, staff, and families from threats inside or outside of the school, but there is also a unique opportunity to bring in a positive side to this whole relationship. There is a mentoring opportunity, a community-building opportunity, and more. “I will sit and eat lunch with kids, read with kids, play games on the playground with the kids, or anything to provide positive connections and support,” Troy stated. Further, he stated, “This is a different level of community service that is being established inside and outside of the school. That is the most essential piece of this program. With the ugly side at the forefront, this brings in a beautiful side, this wonderful opportunity that has not been seen inside the schools before, even with the SRO programs.” In closing Troy wanted his “parents” to know, “We are in this together. Safety is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. It is something I take very seriously. I recognize the importance of my job and how that impacts your families every day. I am here to keep everyone safe, but I want to be a friend, I want to be a mentor and I want to help these kids in any way possible. We need to plant seeds and help those seeds flourish! Taking steps to be a part of a village like the one here at REMS is important and I would encourage parents to step into that. Be supportive, be involved, and let’s be a team!” Troy, we are grateful for your service! Next time we parents see him, let’s say ‘thank you.’ We are blessed to have him as part of our Crew! Comments are closed.
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February 2024
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