Above: School Resource Officers Will Murray and Shannon Bass are looking forward to the new school year. Both men say they enjoy the chance to interact with the amazing students and staff in the Fairmont Area.

FAIRMONT — Just like that the 2021-2022 school season is upon us. While students may have mixed feelings about the return to classrooms, a couple of Fairmont’s finest are very excited for the chance to mingle with both students and teachers.

Police Officers Shannon Bass and Will Murray are the school resource officers for Fairmont Area Schools and Arise Academy, respectively. Both men began their SRO positions in 2019, and both saw firsthand the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m looking forward to an actual full year,” said Bass. “I’m excited to be able to see the kids’ faces. I can’t wait to get back in there.”

Murray shared his background, stating that he has been in law enforcement for about 20 years, and touched on Arise Academy.

“I started as a school resource officer at the same time as officer Bass, just out at Arise Academy at the old Lincoln School. It’s a unique school and we have students coming from all over the area.”

Bass and Murray then touched on the importance of a School Resource Officer, especially at a time when law enforcement personnel are often portrayed in a negative light by mainstream media.

“We want to be there as a resource to the kids,” said Bass. “We’re not there to punish or anything like that. We want them to be able to come in and see police officers in a positive light. There’s so many times you see families or kids have negative interactions and my goal is to be a positive resource, not only for the students but for teachers.

“I try to get across to the kids that they can come and talk with me whether it’s school related or not. If they have any personal problems and just want to talk and get something off their chest, or if they have a question about life, I’m not going to have all the answers but I’m there to listen and be a support for them.”

Bass said that he sees the rewards of his efforts out in public as kids come up and are happy to see him. Murray shares the same sentiment, stating that he also enjoys being a resource for the schools as a whole.

“For me, if I’m free at the time, I’m in a classroom,” he said. “I’ll help the kids with their homework, and I’ll bounce between classes so the kids see me almost each and every hour.

“It doesn’t take too long, if you don’t happen to be at school for some reason, they’re asking where I was. Then you know you’re making an impact. If they’re looking for you to be there, you know you’re having a good impact on them.”

Both men said that they have had a lot of memorable experiences with the students they work with.

“At the school I work at, last spring when our graduation hit, to see a lot of the students who weren’t graduating yet to come out and enjoy that experience and see the families and kids was very rewarding,” said Murray.

Bass said that he was very proud of the effort he saw students making as they shifted back and forth between distance learning and classroom education.

“I’ve had students that were stuck at home and they were failing,” he said. “I’d stop at their house and talk to them about coming back to school and they went from failing to not failing anything. I also saw students who were just dropping out and not coming, they weren’t going to graduate but they trusted me to come to me and talk to me.”

Bass and Murray agreed that their experience as school resource officers has positively impacted their own lives as well.

“It was like a whole new job experience going from the streets to the school,” said Bass. “The kids have a positive attitude, whether you’re down at the elementary school where they just love you or you’re at the high school and you have to earn that trust in the long run, it just makes you feel good.”

“It’s a good working relationship and I hope it continues,” said Murray. “I hope the trend changes and that we continue to have school resource officers here in Minnesota.”

When asked about challenges that they see students face, the officers said that the two biggest challenges by far are social media and the negative aspect of a 24-hour mainstream media that denigrates law enforcement.

“These kids are connected day in and day out,” said Murray. “There’s no break from kids who maybe don’t get along because they are all connected on social media. It’s hard for me now too, to separate myself from my life-link of my cell phone that has all the data and stuff I need. It’s even harder for those who have always had it. “They’ve always had the internet and social media and it’s an obstacle for them to be able to focus on schoolwork rather than their personal life.

“The other challenge we have as school resource officers is that we have to battle the media and their perception,” Murray continued. “I know last year there was a lot of stuff going on I would hear students say ‘this is bad and this is bad, but we like Will.’ To me, that was nice to hear, but I also don’t want them to have that mindset that there’s only one officer that’s a great guy.

“I want them to have the idea that law enforcement, in general, is out there doing the job that they’re supposed to be doing and doing it in a good light.”

Bass agreed that it’s hard to get kids to realize that there is life beyond a cell phone.

“You can turn it off, you can talk to your friends,” he said. “We remember sitting around the lunchroom and talking to our buddies back and forth. Now they’re snapchatting or gaming. Gaming is huge and instead of them talking about stuff they’re doing that.”

Murray and Bass said they would like people to remember safety as school goes back into session, noting that after the beginning of the school year, stop-arm violations tend to increase, and speed limits for school zones are ignored.

“We want our kids safe,” said Murray.

Bass said that he would like people to realize that the Fairmont area is lucky to have a good bunch of students and teachers.

“The way they’re able to adapt and bounce and keep doing it with a positive attitude is so rewarding. The city of Fairmont should be very proud of the school system and the kids in them.”

Police Chief Mike Hunter also weighed in, stating that the entire police department is very proud of the work done by Bass and Murray.

“We’re very happy with the partnership we have with Fairmont Area Schools and Southern Plains Education Cooperative at Arise Academy,” he said. “We’ve got great relationships with our local systems, and we’re very pleased to have these two guys in the roles that they’re in.”