High-fives, fist-bumps, thumb-wrestling build rapport at Canal Winchester Middle School

The honest question of a 7-year-old boy at Groveport-Madison’s Dunloe Elementary School in 2019 still resonates with Madison Township Officer Keith Mallory.

Only about two weeks into the new role of school resource officer at the school, Mallory was asked, "Are you here to shoot me?"

“I knew I had a lot of work to do,” Mallory said.

Three years later, Mallory is tackling another new role, that of school resource officer at Canal Winchester’s two elementary schools, Indian Trail and Winchester Trail, and Canal Winchester Middle School.

Mallory acknowledged that while one facet of being a school resource officer is for the safety of students and an immediate presence in the event of a threat to student safety, it is equally important to make connections with students and establish a rapport with students at an early age.

“To me, being a successful school resource officer is to connect with kids. I know I have to make those connections; they aren’t going to come to me.”

And so it is that Mallory, at each change of classes at the middle school, situates himself in the center of the hallway, fist-bumping and high-fiving students passing by.

Mallory, with a role of quarters in his pocket, also accepts and issues challenges to students for thumb-wresting.

Skilled at the activity, Mallory holds his own but will give 75 cents − the cost of a bag of chips at the school’s cafeteria − to any student who pins his thumb.

“It is one of the ways I have found to make a connection with some kids (and) to give back,” Mallory said.

The quarters he gives to students offset the free cups of coffee he sometimes accepts if businesses insist long and hard enough that he does so, Mallory said.

Mallory’s efforts to thumb-wrestle, fist-bump or discuss if Joe Burrow can lead the Cincinnati Bengals to another Super Bowl seem to be working.

“(Mallory) is friendly to me and I like he asks how I’m doing, how my day is,” said Rayyon Hawkins, 14, an eighth-grade student at Canal Winchester Middle School.

Que Harris, 14, also an eighth-grader, said he enjoys discussing sports with Mallory.

Other students said they feel safer having him in the hallway.

“He’s cool. I like him, (and) I feel safer knowing he’s here if anything pops up,” said Rocco Ruby, 14, an eighth-grader.

Mallory’s presence as Canal Winchester’s second school resource officer − and the first dedicated to the middle school and the district’s two elementary schools − stemmed in part from an incident Aug. 19 when shots were fired just outside Groveport-Madison High School during a football game against Canal Winchester.

No one was injured and two people were detained, including an 18-year-old Columbus man later charged with improper discharge of a firearm and inducing panic.

Mallory, who responded to the scene, described the immediate aftermath as “chaos” and as a result of a meeting between police and school superintendents from both communities, Canal Winchester wanted a second school resource officer.

Before this year, Fairfield County Deputy Michael Myers was the district’s only school-resource officer and spent most of his time at Canal Winchester High School but also traveled to the middle school and elementary school campus as needed, according to Megan Anthony, communications coordinator for Canal Winchester schools.

When the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office advised the Canal Winchester district it did not have the staffing to assign an additional officer, the district turned to the Madison Township Police Department.

Mallory's first day on the job was Oct. 3.

Canal Winchester Superintendent Kiya Hunt said the district is “fortunate to welcome an experience school-resource officer” to the district whose “expertise and perspective” are to keep the schools “safe and secure” for students and staff.

Mallory’s path to law enforcement and as a school resource officer was not a direct path.

Mallory, 55, graduated from Columbus State Community College with an associate’s degree in business management and worked for the Division of Watercraft for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources before pursuing a career in law enforcement.

He joined the Perry Township Police Department in 1996 and the Madison Township Police Department in 2004 where he later was assigned to the detective bureau.

As the township police department’s only detective − even when a caseload less than some other departments − Mallory said the job began to weigh on him.

“I was called back in (to work a case) one Saturday when I was out boating (with my family). I was beginning to feel a little burned out,” then Madison Township Police Chief Gary York introduced the new school resource officer position in 2019, Mallory said.

Beginning with the boy who asked if he was there to shoot him, Mallory said he works every day to have positive interactions with as many students as possible.

“In many instances, children only encounter police when something bad has happened," he said. "It is a challenge to overcome, but I want every child I meet to know I am here for each one of them.”

Mallory starts each morning at the district’s elementary schools, typically greeting students as they step off buses and walk into the school. After that, he heads to the middle school where he spends the bulk of his day before joining Myers at the high school near dismissal time.

In addition to building rapport with students and providing enhanced protection, Mallory also leads occasional training sessions with staff and bus drivers about how to react to unruly students as well as instruction to shelter and protect students in the event of act of violence in the building.

While student safety is the primary purpose for school resource officers, middle school Principal Brian Moore said, “I love the rapport (Mallory) has with students in building positive relationships to police. He is great with the kids and stepping up to do whatever we need."

kcorvo@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekCorvo

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Mallory works to keep Canal Winchester students safe, build rapport