Students hope to break barriers with Cops and Kids Basketball Game at Gwinnett middle school

Matt Johnson
·2 min read
2

A Gwinnett County school is bringing kids and cops together on the basketball court Friday night for students to see a different side of the police.

The kids told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson that it can help break the tension between both sides.

When Summerour Middle School students take the basketball court Friday, they don’t plan to lose to their opponents.

“They have no chance,” 8th-grade student DeAndre Newson Jr said.

Their opponents are local police officers.

“At least 50 kids have come up to me at times and said, ‘Hey, are you playing?’” School Resource Officer Scott Schunk said.

But it’s all in good fun, helping to bridge the gap.

“It wouldn’t be awkward anymore,” student Brian Desamu said.

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It’s the first-ever Cops and Kids Basketball Game at Summerour Middle School.

Students and police officers will use a friendly basketball game on the court to build something that will last years.

“We play with them, and we’re knowing them better,” student Sarah Loren-Jurry said.

Teacher Charles Wicks came up with the idea so kids could be around police in a creative way.

“What a better way to bring the community together, to bring the students together,” Wicks said.

Principal Natalie Looney says the public community event is a way to build on school pride.

“A lot of our kids know our SROs already but really building more of that relationship,” Looney said.

Eighth-grader Sarah Loren Jurry said even if the officers can’t keep up with her on the court, she hopes to keep up a positive bond with them off of it.

“We see them outside of school, we try to talk to them and like, ‘Oh, I remember playing you at Summerour,’” Loren-Jurry said.

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