SOUTHLAKE, TX  – Kimberly Smith, school resource officer (SRO) at Southlake Police Department, was awarded “Texas Instructor of the Year” from L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence), a nationwide nonprofit that works with communities to help students understand the dangers of drugs and violence, and Matt Petrie, retired Southlake SRO, was awarded “L.E.A.D.er of the Year.” They were presented with the awards at L.E.A.D.’s ninth annual 21st Century Drug and Violence Prevention Training Conference in Orlando, Florida, due to their excellent work educating students on the proven effective curriculum implemented by L.E.A.D. and training folks across the country to become L.E.A.D. instructors, respectively.

“The awards given to SRO Smith and Mr. Petrie are well deserved. We congratulate them on their outstanding work helping to protect students from the dangers of drugs and violence and expand the network of people who are trained to teach our curriculum,” said Nick DeMauro, CEO of L.E.A.D. “They’re dedication towards emphasizing the importance of drug and violence prevention is helping us to continue accomplishing our goal of advancing police-community relationships.”

L.E.A.D. provides services “On The Street” and “In The Classroom” as it brings law enforcement and communities closer together. The “In The Classroom” program is taught by more than 5000 trained instructors in 45 states, who are serving more than 500,000 students in 2,500 school systems. L.E.A.D. has a proven-effective, law enforcement-focused anti-drug, anti-violence curriculum for K–12 students in the U.S. The L.E.A.D. curriculum is taught over the course of a 10-week program to educate youth on how they can make smart decisions without the involvement of drugs or violence.

Last school year, SRO Smith taught the L.E.A.D. curriculum to 161 fourth graders at Walnut Grove Elementary School. In Southlake, L.E.A.D. is also taught to sixth graders by SROs at intermediate campuses and eighth graders by SROs at middle school campuses.

One of SRO Smith’s favorite parts about the ten weeks in the classroom is the quality time that she gets to spend with the students.

“10 weeks is a significant amount of time to spend with the children and make a positive impact on their lives,” said SRO Smith. “I enjoy getting to see the kids develop into better versions of themselves by teaching them character-based values, and the great, open conversations that we have with them are fulfilling.”

SRO Smith says that two twin brothers who she had in one of her classes had the idea of making “what would Officer Kim do” bracelets, which shows her how much of an impact that she makes on students’ lives.

“It was powerful to hear the twins talk about making the bracelets. They said they would use them as a reminder to ask themselves what I would do in the situation if they’re struggling with making a good decision,” said SRO Smith. “No matter where my students go or how old they get, they know that I’ll always be there for them.”

Mr. Petrie has been with L.E.A.D. for three years. He’s trained approximately 400 officers, deputies, coaches, counselors and directors from the Boys & Girls Clubs, an organization that has implemented L.E.A.D. as an after-school program, in 17 states to teach the L.E.A.D. curriculum. He says that getting to work with the organization and train police officers to teach such an impactful program is an honor.

“In Southlake, I spent 35 years in law enforcement and 22 of those years as an SRO working with students in middle school. Getting to pass on the training that I’ve received over the years to police officers across the country is a blessing,” he said. “Unfortunately, a lot of people have a bad taste in their mouths about law enforcement, so it’s rewarding to know that by training police officers to go into the classroom and steer children away from alcohol and drugs, I’m helping to break down those walls.”

Mr. Petrie adds that he’s most impressed by the first five lessons in the L.E.A.D. curriculum as “they contain important life skills that the kids can use for the rest of their lives.”

About L.E.A.D.

L.E.A.D. provides the leadership, resources and management to ensure law enforcement agencies have the means to partner with educators, community leaders and families. L.E.A.D. succeeds by providing proven effective programs to deter youth and adults from drug use, drug related crimes, bullying and violence. L.E.A.D. is committed to reinforcing the mutual respect, goodwill and relations between law enforcement and their communities. For more information, visit https://www.leadrugs.org/.