Photo By Sgt. Tabitha Bartley | Sgt. Thomas B. Gross, the school resource officer for Quantico Middle/High School and...... read more read more
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MCB QUANTICO, Va. -- School buses line up in front of Quantico Middle High School, Oct. 7. Before the students are let off, they are informed they will be doing an evacuation drill. Sgt. Thomas B. Gross, the school resource officer for Quantico Middle/High School and military police officer with Security Battalion, waits for the students at the buses’ emergency exit.
The first student throws their things to the ground and then looks at Gross, hesitant about exiting. Without pause Gross instructs the student to sit down, reaches up and sets them on the pavement. Some students jump right out expecting Gross to catch them in his strong arms. They trust his fatherly face and he doesn’t let them down, catching each one of them and safely placing them on the ground.
Gross has something to say to each student, something as simple as asking a student, by name, how their day was, to joking with them about the volleyball game the night before.
“I know each one of these kids personally,” said Gross.
After all the buses are unloaded, Gross heads inside to watch the students make their way to class. His eyes miss nothing; experience and familiarly with the students have trained them on what to look for.
“What’s in that container,” asked Gross to a student, in a playful teasing manner.
“Lasagna,” replied the student with a smile, as she hurried off to class before he could steal it from her.
Gross tells another student to put away their iPods. The student grumbles, but quickly puts it away.
“Every day I do anything from being in the halls, making sure the students’ have proper credentials, or don’t have things they aren’t suppose to, such as iPods,” said Gross. “I also deal with students who get thrown out of class, congratulate them on sports, talk about personal problems they may be having at home or with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Anything that directly affects them, I have a hand in it.”
After the bell rings and all the students have made it to their first class, Gross does a tour inside the school and around the school grounds to make sure there is nothing going on he doesn’t know about and locking the gate that surrounds the school.
Returning to the main office, Gross waits for the next period and greets parents, teachers and students who come into the office. He greets each person he comes into contact with and jokingly questions why they are in the office. If someone comes in with a container, he makes sure to examine the contents especially if it’s holding food.
A few minutes before lunch Gross is informed that one of the cafeteria staff won’t be in due to being sick. Always the helping hand, he puts on his cover and heads to the kitchen to help serve chow.
“He is a huge asset to the school,” said Lisa Hatcher, the school nurse. “He works well with everyone at the school and is always willing to help out.”
The staff and parents at the school say the same thing about Gross: he is amazing, the students love him, he has done tremendous things while working at the school and a number of other compliments.
The school and its students and staff weren’t the only ones to gain from Gross being appointed as school resource officer. Gross has learned a lot himself since he has been assigned to the school.
“I am a lot more understanding of young men and women because of this job,” said the Marine who went to college to be a chef. “As a leader, I am surrounded by young Marines, who are just a few years older than the young adults I am surrounded by now. It’s easy to forget that they have real problems and real issues that may not seem that large to me but to them. This really comes to life at the school because their emotions are just so high and low.
“Prior to coming to this school I was more rigid and stern to my younger Marines,” said Gross. “I often forgot how important something minor to me might be to them.”
The staff also agrees that it is important for Gross to be at the school.
“It’s extremely important for him to be here,” said Dan Mulhern, the assistant principal. “He is visibly available for the students and they are able to confide in him, but it’s more than just that. The students look up to him as a role model.”
Gross attends all of the sporting events at the school, helps out wherever he is needed and deals with issues such as fights, theft, drugs and a number of other things that effect the students and the school. He does so in a manner that makes him easy to confide in as well as respect.
“The school is small but we have the same amount of problems that a bigger school has,” said Gross. “I think this program is very good. When I first heard about police officers in schools, I thought there was no need for that but, being here and doing this job, I see the advantages of it. We get to know the community, the students and their parents. Being able to intercede when someone is really having emotional stress, because I know the kid and know how they are, it’s things like that which make this job amazing.”
Correspondent: tabitha.bartley@usmc.mil
| Date Taken: | 10.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.16.2011 08:56 |
| Story ID: | 80104 |
| Location: | QUANTICO, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 30 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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