October 7, 2022- Over 200 K-5th grade students from schools across Macon County spent the day with SIMP, Inc. and local law enforcement at Scovill Zoo.
Students were given the opportunity to get to know their community’s police officers at today’s Zoo Day.
As students arrived at Scovill Zoo, they were greeted by SIMP, Inc. leaders, Leo the Violence Prevention Lion, and Macon County law enforcement. Each student received a police badge sticker, and took pictures with law enforcement and SIMP, Inc.
Students were placed into groups, and each group had an officer. The groups were taught about violence prevention, had lunch and snow cones with their group’s officer, and visited animal exhibits.
Dr. Sherrod’s Independent Mentoring Program (SIMP, Inc.) strives to bring the community and law enforcement together by shedding a positive light on law enforcement.
“There is not really a lot of light shed on police officers,” Cheyann Perry, 9th grader at MacArthur High School, and youth leader for SIMP, Inc. said. “They are usually made to seem like the bad guys when really they are on our side. They are really cool and fun people when you get to know them.”
Perry enjoys events like today because they give her opportunities as a leader to communicate with children about the importance of preventing violence in their community, while also improving upon her public speaking skills.
“Being a leader for SIMP is really amazing,” Perry said. “I want to be a veterinarian and I was not always very good at public speaking. Being in SIMP really helped me with that, and being able to talk with kids about violence prevention is really amazing, too.”
SIMP, Inc. is expected to have more community events, such as its annual Because We Care Thanksgiving Meal and its Macon County Student Summit in October. Youth leaders such as Perry will be front and center leading fellow Macon County students at these events.
For more information on SIMP, visit the Facebook page.
