THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506020249
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
THE NAME MAY BE a mouthful - Police, Public Educators and Peers Utilizing the Leadership Skills of Students At Risk - but the aim is simple: breaking down communications barriers among students, school and the community.
Besides, it goes by its much shorter acronym, PULSAR.
It is a 20-hour course that covers conflict resolution, peer counseling, self-awareness and goal-setting. Teachers and officers from the Suffolk Police Department make up PULSAR teams at John Yeates and Forest Glen, the first Suffolk middle schools to offer the program.
``Most kids today have a negative connotation of police because of things they've seen on television,'' said 13-year-old Patrice Copeland of Yeates. ``But I think we can help students think differently . . . and make them realize that police officers protect us.''
The seventh-grader is among 40 students selected to get PULSAR off the ground at Yeates. Building positive relationships between teen-agers and police is one of PULSAR's goals, said John Yeates sponsor Shelia Sessoms.'
Assistant Principal Bettie Swain said students use a manual, ``then (they) can transfer what they've learned to real life situations.''
Activities are fun as well as educational, Sessoms added. For example, students learn the importance of teamwork by playing ``Trust,'' a game in which a blindfolded person standing inside a circle of friends has to count on them to catch him when he falls.
Arnice Monroe, substance abuse prevention specialist for Suffolk Public Schools said Nansemond River and Lakeland high schools have successful PULSAR programs that started two years ago.
``I'm really excited to see this program get going at Forest Glen,'' said sponsor Tanya Lawrence. That school's PULSAR club is starting up with 30 students.
Adult sponsors from Suffolk's two participating middle schools were trained at an overnight retreat in April. At a retreat at the Airfield 4-H Center in Wakefield, the sponsors trained students like Patrice and Amber Massey, 13, to be peer mediators and tutors.
``This will help me learn how to relate to other people and understand what they have on their minds,'' said Amber, a John Yeates seventh-grader who is thinking about a psychology career. ``I think this will make me a better person by teaching me to listen and to not be so quick to judge others.''
PULSAR has proven it is making a difference in school divisions where it has been used for several years.
``We have seen a great reduction in the number of fights because students are finding other methods for handling conflict,'' said Monroe, whose office is located at Nansemond River. ``The whole atmosphere has changed into one that is more healthy and conducive to learning.''
Cynthia Gray, principal at Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton - where PULSAR got its start in 1989 - credits the program with helping reduce the school's drop-out rate and boost its standardized test scores.
``In Staunton, we believe in educating students holistically,'' Gray said. ``That is, if a student has a problem, we try to provide him with the necessary support services to solve it. PULSAR is one of those services.
``This program helps students buy into their school. And when the school is self-owned, students tend to help each other and work together to keep the school safe.''
Over the past six years, PULSAR's success has extended from school hallways into the community, said Capt. Walter B. Brown of the Staunton Police Department and chairman of PULSAR Inc. PULSAR was born in Staunton in 1988, when a police officer and educator teamed up to tackle the negative attitudes of teen-agers toward city police.
Brown believes teenage hostility is a universal problem for police that stems from poor communication between the two parties.
``When we spoke to them before PULSAR, it was always in an authoritative voice,'' Brown said. ``But by sitting down and letting them ask questions, the kids have developed a rapport with local officers.
``I was no longer a uniform or badge to them. I was an individual.''
Last year, PULSAR Inc. adopted another program created by the state Division of Motor Vehicles called Youth Appreciates Law Enforcement. Better known as YALE, this program also focuses on strengthening relations between youth and police officers and safe driving. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Sponsor Sheila Sessoms works with John Yeates Middle School students
Susan Sauerbrunn, left, and Amber Massey, right, on a PULSAR
project. The club's goal is to break down communications barriers
among students, school and the community.
by CNB