Johnna Pinholster
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — Sixth graders within the Lowndes County School System are learning how to better resist the influence of gangs.
Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) is a program started this year at the Parker Mathis Learning Center, Hahira Middle School and Lowndes Middle School.
Lowndes County Sheriff’s Deputy Ken Wheeler, school resource officer at Lowndes Middle School, said he, Deputy Larry Bunte and Deputy Chris Williams received training in June of 2009 to administer the program in the various schools.
The GREAT program began in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1991 to combat gang recruitment in middle schools, Wheeler said.
The program is now in 1,400 communities across the country and is federally funded by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he said.
The program stresses the need for students to avoid gang membership, how to prevent violent crime, anger management and developing positive relationships with law enforcement.
The 13-week course is interactive for students, which has been key to keeping students involved, Wheeler said.
He views the program as a preventive measure when it comes to gang activity. The program doesn’t focus much on gangs but how to develop relationships and a positive environment outside the realm of gang activity, he said.
“We teach them how to make good decisions, develop effective communication and be a part of the community,” Wheeler said.
The first lesson Wheeler taught to the students has been his favorite, he said. The lesson centered around setting short-term and long-term goals, the same guidelines Wheeler applied to his own life when losing weight.
“I knew that if I could do it they could do whatever they wanted to in their life,” he said.
By the end of the course, Hahira Middle School will graduate more than 100 students, Parker Mathis Learning Center will graduate 20 students and Lowndes Middle School will graduate 192 students this week, Wheeler said.
He teaches the program one day a week during the sixth graders’ physical education class.
This year, the only part of the program that was federally funded was the training for the officers and the books containing the course materials.
Any other materials, such as pencils for students, was funded by the school system, he said.
For the upcoming school year, the hope is to apply for a federal grant to receive funding for the program and maybe even expand it to include family workshops and a summer camp, he said.
“We want to keep a positive message out there for them and let them know there is something else for them to do than run the streets,” Wheeler said.
Preventing criminal activity allows teachers and students the opportunity to focus on education, as opposed to discipline, he said.
Another important aspect is the relationship the program builds between students and law enforcement.
“Otherwise, some of them wouldn’t even talk to law enforcement,” Wheeler said. “Now they know they can come and talk to me if they need help.”
The students have enjoyed the program, Wheeler said, and he has learned a lot about how young people today perceive their community and the things going on within it.
“They have given me ideas and helped me do my job better,” he said. “I wish someone had told me this when I was in the sixth grade.”
