‘Buddies in Blue:’ Pennsylvania officers mentor students

FRANCONIA, Pa. (AP) - One of the Franconia Elementary School Buddies in Blue students was going through a challenge.

The police officer paired with him in the mentoring program was notified and went to the boy’s home to talk to him.

“The next day, he was like a new kid,” Franconia Elementary School Principal Laura Heineck said.

Buddies in Blue, which was started as a pilot program the beginning of the school year, matches up six Franconia Township Police Department officers with five students, she said.

“It’s just more of a mentoring and bonding with students that the school has identified as kids that could use a little bit more support,” said Off. Tim Boyle, president of the Franconia Police Benevolent Association.

The officers and students met at a pizza party that included the students, their siblings and their mothers, Boyle said.

“What we do is we just stay in contact with them,” he said.

That can include things like stopping by at recess, lunch or other times, Heineck and Boyle said.

“They’ll play with the kids, which has really benefited all the kids,” Heineck said. “It’s nice for all our students to see that partnership.”

There’s no set schedule for the officers to meet with the students and the get-togethers aren’t all at school, Boyle said.

“All the officers have volunteered their time. They do this on their own time, which is really nice,” Heineck said.

There are also plans to have some outings for all five of the students and the officers doing things together, Boyle said.

The Buddies in Blue officers and students took part together in the Souderton Holiday Parade in December, Heineck said.

“It’s really having that positive role model,” she said of the program. Having police officers, rather than other community members, as the mentors adds to the program, she said.

All five of the students in the program are part of single-mother homes, Boyle said.

Some of the students have had tragedies in their lives that may have influenced their view of police officers, Heineck said.

“It’s nice for them to see that the police are trusted adults and that they really care and are invested,” she said.

“It’s given our students who may have struggled in the past something to be proud of,” she said, “and to look forward to.”

“What’s great is we’re connecting with these kids that the school’s identified at the elementary age,” Boyle said.

The bonds that are made will hopefully carry over as the students get older and Buddies in Blue will hopefully have an impact on the decisions the students make in the upcoming years, he said.

“They have somebody that they can talk to or that they know if something’s wrong that they can reach out to that isn’t gonna judge them,” he said.

AUTISM PATCHES

In a separate program, the Franconia Police Benevolent Association is selling autism patches.

“It’s the same size as our official patch, except it’s got the colored puzzle piece as the background,” Boyle said.

There are people who collect first responder patches, he said. The Franconia patch has been sold over the internet to people as far away as in New Mexico, he said.

The entire $10 purchase price of the Franconia patches will be donated to Souderton Area School District’s autism programs, he said.

“They have a great autism program here in Souderton School District and we wanted to see how we can support that,” Boyle said.

The patches are available on the www.ftpba.com website, at the police station or from any of the officers, he said.

“Most of us carry them with us,’ he said.

The PBA has purchased 500 of the patches and has a goal of making a $5,000 contribution to the school district sometime this year when those patches have been sold, he said.

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