officer steps in County Schools
CARLA GWALTNEY OWENS Sentinel Writer

Clay County Schools has hired an additional resource officerto serve the three Hayesville schools. The first female deputy to be hired in the history of the Clay County Sheriff's Department, Ms. Stacey Posey, was recently introduced to students at Hayesville Elementary School by Clay County's DARE OfficerTony Ellis. Posey is originally from Cherokee County and graduated from NC Basic Law Enforcement Training in 2005 and is a certified deputy.

Posey and Ellis will join forces in keeping students, faculty and staff safe at the local campus. Ellis, who has served as the only resource officerfor many years, said he has been spread thin trying to meet the needs of all three schools and that OfficerPosey's presence will be quickly felt by Clay County students. No longer will Ellis have to be called from a DARE class he is teaching to answer another call on campus, but will have constant back-up as Posey will be on campus full-time during the school day.

"I have been stretched between the three schools," Ellis commented. "Logistically, it will be better to have two officers." During lunch time alone, Ellis has been staying at the cafeteria from the beginning of the first lunch served to the elementary students until the last lunch is served to the high school. Now, two officerswill be able to monitor the entire campus more effectively.

In addition to simply having another set of hands on deck, Ellis said that having a woman to serve the female student population in many circumstances will be a great advantage. Posey said that responding to problems in the ladies restrooms and locker rooms will no longer have to be done by teachers alone, but with a female officeron duty those situations can be handled more effectively.

In addition to campus safety, Posey and Ellis provide students with information and education on safety issues similar to the visit they made to classes at HES recently. The officersvisited Fourth Graders and passed out information about the dangers lurking on the internet. Posey and Ellis shared with students how they can be safe while using a computer and gave tips on how to avoid internet predators.

The two officersplan to visit classes throughout the school year and share tips on many safety issues, from the dangers of alcohol and other drugs, to bullying, and simply making wise choices. In addition to his duties as DARE Officer,Ellis said the main focus of he and OfficerPosey, day-in and dayout, is to simply keep the students and teachers safe. Ellis and Posey agreed that all the employees at the schools make this job extremely easy as they are all very vigilant about reporting any questionable activities or anything at all suspicious.

And now with two officers, Ellis said running to a situation at the elementary school will no longer mean abandoning another need at the middle or high school.

Of her job, which began the first day of school, Posey said she loves it. She is able to be near her two young children who are enrolled at Hayesville and she is able to do a job she loves. One of her favorite parts of her new job, Posey shared, has been spending time with the students during lunch, just talking to them and doing helpful things like opening their milk cartons and other goodies. "Hallelujahs!" were heard coming from the Kindergarten teachers who are thankful for another set of hands on deck during lunch time when they are trying to open 20 milk cartons for their students while trying to eat their lunch at the same time.

So, while she is lending her hands to keeping your children safe, which is her first priority - she is also lending her hands to making sure things just go well for them while they are at school eating lunch. And this is where her second priority comes in, building relationships with the students. Posey said she wants to spend time with them and do simple things like help them open their milk carton because it helps her build relationships with the students. Then, when the time comes, they will feel like they can turn to her for help. Should they ever need someone to just talk to or help with a serious problem, Posey said she will be there, just like she was there to open their milk.

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