You may have recently seen students in vests walking around Robinson and wondered why. This year, Robinson has created a new “Crime Watch” class that allows students to help keep their school safe. The class is taught and supervised by Officer Hester, Robinson’s School Resource Officer.

Hester was motivated to take on the class as a way to get more kids involved in the safety of their school, to create better connections between students and their School Resource Officer and to introduce more students to what it takes to be in law enforcement. Students in the class help Hester around the school and occasionally go over case studies and case laws.

“Mainly its really just making sure that the campus is safe, I’m only one person, I can’t be everywhere at once,” Hester said. “But I don’t expect them to jump in the line of danger or anything, but just to take a sense of pride for their school.”

Josh Hall-Gomez  (’20) created the class because he wanted students to feel like they had more privileges and prerogatives than before.

“My thinking of it was just to… have others… feel included ya know, I have… a lot of special privileges that others don’t have at the school and I wanted to make sure that the student body feels like they have privileges as well not just me,” Hall-Gomez said.

Hall-Gomez is glad that his idea became a reality and that students are able to participate in this class. He enjoys providing the school with a sense of safety and giving students the chance to help supply it as well.

“Having crime watch every period… brings the… [awareness] of, ya know, drugs on campus and as well as if there’s a fight or anything they can run straight to the issue and solve it right away as Officer Hester comes as well,” Hall-Gomez said.

Julieanna Chacon (’20) was placed in the Crime Watch class this year and finds it captivating. She enjoys learning more about the school and is looking forward to providing the the school with a better and safer atmosphere.

“I actually didn’t get to join… this is my senior year, I was just placed in this class based off [the fact that] I didn’t have any other electives to take but it is interesting. Not everybody has the class so it’s cool to… share with people what it’s about and that way next year they can get it,” Chacon said.

Chacon is very passionate about the vaping problem here at Robinson and wants to change the social “norm” of vaping for the classes after hers.

“Personally I wouldn’t want [vaping] in my school or… like years later on I wouldn’t want my kids to all off a sudden [think] oh its normal to go into the school and vape,” Chacon said.

Her hope is that by the time she is gone, the school will be rid of vaping.

“I’d like to see students not be so adjusted to it. I don’t want them to be like oh this is something normal, everybody does it now so i’m just gonna bring it to school and do it. It’s not healthy at all it’s…one of the things that’s killing our kids nowadays and it’s just not ok,” Chacon said.

Chacon is glad this crime watch class enables students to look out for other students. The class gives students a chance to control their school environment and give them a chance to work for a better  school.

“Some of them [the students], didn’t realize how things that they see as small, not a big deal, how dangerous those small elements can be,” Hester said.