BRILLIANT — Wells Township Police Chief Sean Norman is winding down his final few weeks as DARE officer at Buckeye North Elementary, a title he has held for roughly two decades.

He will continue working with students at Buckeye Local Jr. High School as school resource officer as Wells Township Police Officer Shawn Starosciak assumes the role at North during the next school year. Starosciak is presently completing training to prepare for the job, but Norman said it is not easy to step out of the elementary classrooms.

“I know he will add his own flavor to it and will make it his,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m going to miss the kids because of the camaraderie. They are my friends.”

Norman has guided students in second, fourth and fifth grade at North as well as sixth and eighth grades at BLJHS, spending the entire school year at the junior high and completing a 10-week program at the elementary. He has offered age-appropriate lessons on character and good choices to drug dangers, and during that time he also has hosted extra activities such as kids’ dances and previous professional wrestling matches at the school. More importantly, he established a bond with the children, and that ideal was particularly fitting for his April 8 lesson with fifth-graders as he discussed the importance of having a support network to make good decisions.

Norman defined a support network as “a person or group of people someone can call upon for advice, help, encouragement, protection and guidance” and asked the youth who they would turn to in their time of need. Responses ranged from parents to friends, while he added that siblings, grandparents, teachers, principals, school resource officers and pastors could also make the list. He also asked students to identify the four steps in a DARE decision-making model, which were to define, assess, respond and evaluate.

Talks also included the fifth-graders’ big move to the junior high next year and what they believed were positive aspects and concerns. On the plus side, students said they liked the idea of having sports and activities and concerns ranged from a lack of recess to getting up earlier. The chief said junior high was a different environment and students would have more responsibilities, but they also could also surround themselves with people to help when choices arose.

“We need a support network at the middle school because it’s important,” Chief Norman added.

He also cited resistance tactics, such as avoiding a negative situation and finding strength in numbers to help make better choices. Norman said students have been taught about being good citizens and he hopes they continue to apply that knowledge throughout their lives.

Several of the pupils said they have learned a lot from the chief in return.

“We get to learn a lot of things about good choices,” said Rhonda Pethtel.

“We learn a lot about the good and bad and we learn how to make good decisions,” added River Smitley.

“We learn about respectfulness and being nice and kind to others,” noted Jaymee Barnhart.

Meanwhile, Norman said he has full faith in his successor and that Starosciak was eager to take it on. The officer is completing his first year as SRO at the school but also patrols the township when needed, and he is relishing his blended duties.

“It’s a different path, and I not only want to do more for the school but for the community,” he added. “I feel this is my calling.”

In the end, Norman said he was pleased with the rapport he built with the students and looks ahead with gratitude.

“We’ve done what we set out to accomplish. They don’t see me as Chief Norman; they see me as Sean,” he said. “I know what the DARE program has meant to me and it’s been fun.”