An unfortunate success

According to the front-page story concerning the one-year anniversary of the school resource officer, students and teachers at Windham High School seem thrilled about the introduction of a police officer within the school’s walls.

While we share their enthusiasm for the results the officer has affected in terms of better behavior as well as the officer’s work to expose a marijuana drug ring that enveloped the school, it is still a sad commentary on scholastic life that we even have a need for a full-time school resource officer, an observation that should not be overlooked in the enthusiasm for the program.

It should be our town’s goal not to perpetuate the police officer position, but to try our best to eliminate it as soon as we can. Parents need to do their best raising their kids to be upstanding citizens, rather than pass it off to school administration, teachers, and now the school resource officer. If parents actually taught children to respect adults and their fellow classmates – and didn’t let them get away with it when they failed to show respect – there’d be no need for a police officer within the schools.

A majority of people were skeptical when town, police and school officials first posited the idea of having an officer roaming the school halls. They were right to be skeptical. Americans have a memory of the “good old days,” if only in the movies, when police officers were for getting cats out of trees and breaking up fistfights between rival gangs. We think there’s no going back to those days, but there is. We can’t give up and feel police officers are meant for school hallways. Right now, obviously, they need to be in the school, but we can always hope that if we do things right, the future may hold safer days for our children.

Officer Jeff Smith is a great man for the job. The kids respect him, fear him and confide in him. The drug ring was broken up because someone felt comfortable enough to approach Smith about pervasive drug activities. Obviously, Smith and DARE Officer Matthew Cyr team up to provide Windham’s youth with inspiration and hopefully steer them clear of bad choices. We applaud their efforts.

But hopefully, one day, with each Windham citizen’s help, we won’t need their services anymore. Let’s keep that in mind as we discuss how “successful” this program is.

A fresh start

It’s nice to see that Bodge’s Variety, a Standish hotspot for years, will soon be reopening under a different name, “K&M Variety,” and different owners, Kate Andrews and Marlene Ela, of Standish.

In a world where the closest many people get to community is a community chat room on the Internet, variety stores can offer a hangout for townies, a place to hear local news and maybe even a place to share a little gossip about town affairs. And practically, they’re a quick, convenient alternative to shopping at huge supermarkets where shoppers get their surgeon general’s-recommended amount of daily exercise just trying to buy a gallon of milk.

Variety stores are plentiful throughout Maine and a small town is really not complete without one. Bodge’s Variety was no exception. It gave people in that end of Standish a place to gather in the morning over a cup of coffee. So it was sad to see it go, especially with no reason given for why it closed. The newspaper tried calling the Bodges, but no calls were returned. And every effort to find out what happened ended with closed doors and no one willing to go on record. It seems it’ll remain a mystery.

But that’s the past, and now’s the present. What’s inspirational is that Ela and Andrews are former employees of Bodge’s who have always wanted to start a business of their own. They will probably thrive in that prime location, and we wish them well. They’re living the American Dream, and we will watch them as they take over a business that will now take on their personality and enthusiasm.

Help wanted in Raymond

Dana Desjardins, originator and sole organizer of Raymond Youth Soccer, needs some help. According to a front-page story this week, Desjardins is starting to feel the demand that the league requires of him and is looking for others to lessen and completely relieve him of the burden.

In soccer terms, it’s time someone stepped up to give the man an assist.

Desjardins should be applauded for the many hours he has given to the organization during the last seven years. He’s doing it for the kids and that dedication does not go unnoticed. But everyone needs a break, and there should be others in town to take up the cause.

There are many kids in the program. We’re sure one or more of their parents has the time and desire to take the league off Desjardins’ hands. His number is in the phonebook, and at the end of the article, so here’s your chance. If you’ve ever wanted to run a soccer league, here’s a golden opportunity to impact hundreds of lives for the better.