Carson City Deputy Sheriff Jarrod Adams, a school resource officer assigned to Seeliger Elementary School, sits with kindergartener Mathew Luna Mora Thursday during the campus' first "Thanksgiving with a Hero" event in its cafeteria.
Seeliger Elementary School students enjoyed their first “Thanksgiving with a Hero” event with Carson City’s local firefighters, police officers and school resource officers during lunch Thursday, with the adults enjoying the opportunity to put on an apron, serve the students their meal and sit down with them in the school cafeteria.
School resource officer Jarrod Adams made quick friends with kindergartner Mathew Luna Mora.
“Events like these are good because it gives the young kids a chance to meet the first responders and talk with us and see that we’re approachable and that they can come to us for anything,” Adams said.
Adams has been with the Carson City Sheriff’s Office for 18 years and has been an SRO for three years.
Similar events have been held at other Carson City schools through the district’s nutrition program, including Bordewich Elementary, and they’ve proven successful. Staff members said it gives children a chance to learn who the first responders are and how they can help.
“It’s important to the children to be comfortable around our firemen and resource officers, to know they’re here to help them and know they’re approachable ... and not to fear them but to know they can come to them if they need to, if they have any concerns, that they can go to them,” said Seeliger nutrition coordinator Chris Cooper.
