OGDENSBURG — It has been a full first year since we welcomed three new school resource officers into our school district for the purpose of providing the best safety and security to our students in all three schools. Over the course of the 2023-24 school year, students have begun to welcome and appreciate the work that the officers perform - creating friendships as a result.
“We are extremely fortunate to have been able to build a strong partnership between the City of Ogdensburg, the Ogdensburg Police Department, and our school district with the goal at keeping our students and staff safe as well as our community,” said Superintendent of Schools Kevin Kendall. “In a short time, they have already become active members of our community. They are in classrooms all the time with students, they converse with students in the hall, and they are essentially part of the school family.”
In this three-part story series, you will get to know each of the new School Resource Officers, their triumphs, and hardships throughout their first year in the district. In this first release, meet the kind-hearted Patrolman Ashley Streeter!
Patrolman Ashley Streeter
“I am here throughout the school year during school hours as an extra support person for the school. If there is a major issue with a student like a health concern or if there are some issues that could lead to a criminal investigation, they would call me in to work together,” Officer Ashley Streeter said. “Working here compared to general police work outside of a school is drastically different, especially an elementary school. A lot of what I am trying to do here is more community intervention. Where we can build positive relationships and help families so we may avoid issues as they get older. I work really closely with the counselor, the social worker, and principals here so we can offer families support and build relationships from an issue rather than making it a criminal issue.”
Officer Streeter says that having significant experience as a patrol officer has helped her with her work at JFK Elementary. Both positions include work with different types of families and situations. As a result, she believes she came into the school resource officer role better prepared to be a support asset to the children and families of JFK.
In light of this, adjusting into an SRO role still has its challenges.
“There are situations where I can not do much about because we are in a school setting so my role as a police officer doesn’t really apply as much,” Officer Streeter said. “Our typical role as police is pretty clear cut in dealing with crime and controlling a situation, but here, I let the school take the lead on resolving situations.”
Over the course of the first year, Officer Streeter has built amazing relationships among the staff and students at JFK Elementary.
“The kids are great! I am officially known as the sticker lady as I hand out stickers all the time. I would say 80% of my day is handing out stickers and high fives,” Officer Streeter said. “I feel like I have kind of made myself available as someone they can come talk to or check in with. Just an extra person for them to see throughout the day. The kids definitely make my day.”
Ashley also said that it's hard to get to know every single student in the building, but she is trying to befriend as many as possible. She proactively walks around the school and joins students in classrooms if she has free time. Although she can’t memorize every student’s name, they all know her. The students have covered the walls in Officer Streeter’s office with drawings, cards, and posters thanking her for her work.
“Officer Streeter has been the most amazing addition to our JFK family! She can be seen every day in the hallways giving high fives, hugs, or well earned stickers to students and is a positive presence in our classrooms and cafeteria. It's not every day you find a dinosaur loving, elementary-minded school resource officer, and we hit the jackpot with Ashley!” JFK UPK-2 Principal Cristina Frank said.
Officer Streeter said that a memorable highlight of her first year was being included in a lot of the school’s major events. In two of the major assemblies, she was able to participate where she got to dress up as Frosty the Snowman for one and for the second, they did a egg challenge where students and teachers had to pick out a random egg (hard boiled or raw) from an assortment and you have them smashed over your head. Unfortunately, Officer Streeter got the first raw egg.