By Felicia A. Petro
Allied News Staff Writer
Officer Mark Jaskowak has been a friendly face for Grove City students through much of their school careers.
“I think I have a personality that’s conducive to talking to kids and getting along with them,” he said.
In fact, if district parents were to threaten to “call the police” in the event of their children misbehaving, their kids would think of Jaskowak and be unfazed, added Tom Bell, assistant superintendent.
“Kids weren’t afraid of him. They couldn’t wait to see him. ‘Here comes Officer Jaskowak.’ They have a trust,” Bell said.
“Kids love him from elementary school all the way to the high school.”
Jaskowak is primarily known by district students as the amicable policeman who talks to them about the dangers of substance abuse and poor driving.
The officer began working with students in 1996 with DARE., a national program that emphasizes substance abuse prevention from elementary to middle school ages.
Two years ago, Jaskowak began teaching “Sixteen Minutes,” a PennDOT program emphasizing safe driving to high school students.
When Jaskowak, 49, volunteered to be the DARE. officer, he had young kids in school and was actively involved as a parent and/or coach in school sports.
Being the DARE. officer “fit right in,” he said.
Now that his kids are grown, “I don’t know the (students) quite as much as I used to,” Jaskowak said. “I felt it was best for a young person to get in there and learn the ropes and take over.”
This year, Officer Nathan Spiker, 28, took over Jaskowak’s position.
At the middle school, Spiker has established a dozen student leaders to help the cause against substance abuse with their peers, which is new to the DARE. program.
“He has good ideas, and is doing a good job so far,” Jaskowak said. “I’ve only heard positive things. He has a good personality and will get along well with the kids.”
“Even though (Spiker’s) younger ... I can already see the young kids love him and the middle school kids are really participating,” Bell added.
Being the DARE. officer is very involved, Jaskowak noted. “I had to prepare for my lessons and studied at night. I don’t miss that part of it, but I liked the teaching part. In a way, I kind of miss it.”
Sixteen Minutes keeps Jaskowak involved with students. Still involved with DARE. when he began Sixteen Minutes, he said, “It was just another step to do something at the high school also. I moved right into it.”
The officer gives a 16-minute presentation on the 16th of every month, in which he talks to kids approaching their 16th birthdays about seatbelt safety in anticipation of the students getting their learner’s permits.
“It’s short. The kids enjoy it,” Bell said.
“It’s another opportunity to interact with them,” Jaskowak added.
A photo of Jaskowak teaching Sixteen Minutes to Grove City high schoolers was featured in PennDOT’s newsletter this month.
Jaskowak shares statistics about young people’s views about driving for the first time, whether they are nervous, slow drivers or daredevils.
“Then we talk of the different reasons for car crashes, like aggressive driving, distracted driving and impaired driving,” he said.
He also gives them a heads up about “Click It or Ticket,” a catch-phrase that refers to the state’s seatbelt laws.
Not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense; meaning, a person can’t be stopped for not wearing a seatbelt. However, if that person is stopped for some other reason, and is found to not have a seatbelt in use, he or she could get two tickets instead of one.
Although it was on the 17th, Jaskowak just did a Sixteen Minutes program at the high school on Wednesday.
“We try to get it close to the 16th,” he said. There were 11 students in the class, which is a nice size, Jaskowak noted.
“In a small group, you can talk to them a little bit more openly and they are more apt to ask questions in a small group,” he said.
“I find a lot of times they are receptive to a police officer talking to them. It seems to be a good program so far.”
Jaskowak has heard negative comments through the years about such programs.
Grove City council members have considered cutting its funding to DARE. – which also receives money from Grove City schools – citing studies that it’s ineffective.
“I can understand DARE. not being effective in Chicago or (Los Angeles) or Philly with 12,000 kids at a high school, but in small-town Grove City, Mercer, Sandy Lake, it’s a very valuable program,” Bell said.
“We’re all chasing the almighty dollar and people say it’s a waste of money and so on, but I just think it’s important.”
The most benefit came with Jaskowak’s interaction with students, parents and teachers. “He was a friendly face,” he said.
That also benefits other police work, Bell noted. Jaskowak gets good leads from kids about criminal activity going on at the school “because they know him,” Bell said. Students are also comfortable being interviewed by Jaskowak for investigations in the district, Bell added.
“I know kids out there that made bad decisions and went through DARE., but you don’t hear of the good kids,” Jaskowak said. “I don’t know how you can tell (if it works or not).”
Instances of catching students with illegal substances on school grounds are “minimal,” Bell said.
“Some years we get lucky and have nothing; then other years, we have two or three things happen. Sometimes we’re not aware of it, if kids are doing it outside of school.”
Sometimes a student will get caught with drugs or alcohol, and school officials will say, “Do you remember Officer Jaskowak coming in ... then the light bulb goes on,” Bell noted, and the student often becomes remorseful.
No matter how programs like DARE. or Sixteen Minutes work, “the public relations we have in Grove City with the police and the school and the kids is really a good thing,” Jaskowak said. “It’s an important thing.”
“I think police have a nice relationship with the school, to the youngest of the kids. You couldn’t ask for better cooperation,” Bell said. “Grove City is a nice little community to live in.”
Although he’s not spending time with elementary and middle school kids through DARE. any longer, Jaskowak is still an approachable cop on the street.
“In a way I still see the kids a lot ... in restaurants and in the community and have that rapport with them,” he said.
This week he did a “walk through” at McDonald’s on West Main Street, where kids often go after school, he said.
“I had middle school students come and talk to me, then I sat down and a third grader came and talked to me,” Jaskowak said. “I had a nice conversation.”
There were no problems in McDonald’s that day.
Published February 20, 2010 in Allied News. Pick up a copy at 201A Erie St., Grove City.
