Michigan students will benefit from the addition of 26 law enforcement officers recently trained in the Teaching, Educating, and Mentoring (T.E.A.M.) School Liaison Program, including two Thumb area officers.
The Michigan State Police (MSP) Grants and Community Services Division hosted the five-day training, which concluded Friday, September 27. T.E.A.M. is a school-based, law-related curriculum taught to grades K-12 by T.E.A.M.-trained police officers with the goal of uniting educators, students, and law enforcement officers to help children protect themselves from crime. During the 40-hour training course, officers receive instruction in student/juvenile psychology, classroom management, and public speaking. In addition to traditional topics such as personal safety, how to dial 911, the law and you, and dating violence, the T.E.A.M. curriculum has been updated to address the topic of school safety and security including facility assessments, bullying and harassment, cyber-crime, social media use, illicit drugs, and vaping. This class included six troopers from the MSP, nine deputies from county sheriffs’ offices, and 11 officers from city/township police departments.
Representing the Thumb was a MSP trooper from the Caro post, and a Huron County Sheriff’s deputy. T.E.A.M. allows officers to teach at any of the three levels of education – elementary, middle, or high school – public or private – aligning with the Michigan Model for Health. The curriculum has been implemented in over 250 Michigan school districts, and in several other states across the United States.
