THORNDIKE — A group of Mount View High School students presented their public service announcement posters they’ve been working on for the last several weeks in an advanced art class, with messages promoting communication.

Students had been approached by members of the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office about collaborating through art to create posters that will be hung in all Waldo County schools.

The posters are to raise awareness about ‘See Something, Say Something,’ a campaign used by the Department of Homeland Security to increase public awareness about reporting suspicious activity.

Sheriff Jeffrey Trafton said in light of recent tragic local and national incidents, and two back-to-back September school lockdowns at Mount View, the SO was searching for a way to make a difference.

While exploring options, several areas were identified that the agency wanted to address as soon as possible. 

Chief Deputy Jason Trundy said the SO is working to change the culture among students of not wanting to want to report suspicious activity by a peer or someone else in their daily life to law enforcement.

School Resource Officer Jordan Tozier said that following recent events, including the Parkland, Fla., shooting, the Mount View lockdowns, and the Feb. 25 death of 10-year-old Marissa Kennedy, students seem more vigilant.

“I can tell you the students are much more aware of their surroundings” he said. “They seem more willing to report issues, they come forward with these things more easily. I think there’s more awareness with school safety.”

Marissa Kennedy was allegedly beaten to death by her mother and stepfather over the span of several months. Both her mother, Sharon Carrillo, 33, and stepfather, Julio Carrillo,51, were arrested Feb. 26, and charged with depraved indifference murder. They both remain in custody at Two Bridges Regional Jail.

Mount View recently held a school safety forum for parents, of which Trafton said, “I got the overwhelming feeling from the parents and the folks from the community that they were very happy with the school and the staff, they were very complimentary to the school, staff, [Deputy Tozier] and the SO.”

The posters created by the students, who worked in four to five groups of two to five students, were made to be generic so that they can be used in all schools and in area businesses and other establishments. The posters will also be printed as business cards that can be handed out.

The posters range from a turquoise and royal blue outline on white backgrounds to rainbow tie-dye, but all have the same important information. All include the slogan, ‘See something, Say something,’ as well as the phone number for the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office, and hotline numbers for help with child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault and suicide prevention.

Senior Myah Hatfield and a  few other students were responsible for creating one of the posters. She used Photoshop to work on the project, taking her color inspiration for its border from the royal blue and turquoise awareness ribbons featured on some of the posters.

“I think it’s really important to spread [the message] so that people know they’re not alone, if they’re thinking things and also that they can come somewhere for help and feel better,” Hatfield said.

When asked about recent student activism around the country, Hatfield said: “A lot of what students are doing everywhere and around the world is getting attention and I think that that’s wonderful. I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Fellow senior Colby Robbins, who worked with two other classmates to complete his poster, said he works as an emergency medical technician and knows many who were affected by the [Marissa Kennedy] tragedy in Stockton Springs.

One of Colby Robbins’ teammates, senior Anne Curtis, said of hanging the posters, “I just think it helps spread awareness to the whole community about what’s going on behind closed doors.”

Tozier said Marissa’s death really drove home the need to bring ‘see something, hear something, say something,’ to the forefront, because “a lot of times when these crimes happen there’s information beforehand, so we’re trying to get the message out to the public in different ways, that they can report something, even anonymously.”

The SO has established a protocol with the Waldo County Communication Center where anyone can call 1-800-660-3398 and provide information anonymously. The caller only needs to state that they wish to remain anonymous and no identifying information will be requested. The protocol is designed to encourage the community to let law enforcement know when they see something of concern to public safety, according to a press release.

When asked why involving students to spread awareness in the community, Tozier said, “I think they have some really great ideas on how to get through to the students their age, and I think it’s important that they have a voice.”

He is proud of the students for stepping up and taking action.

“They came out with some great products and in addition to that, they designed my tailgate, which again puts their fingerprint on the SO and this position, the School Resource Officer position,” he said.

Class teacher Eric Phillips said he enjoys the collaborations with the SO, and tries to include real-world skills into his lessons wherever he can, such as how a freelance artist would put in a bid on a potential job.

Other collaborations include a PSA video about the dangers of texting while driving, another undertaking of the art department. That PSA, which included the use of a totaled vehicle on loan from the SO and student actors, was running in the background during the unveiling though Trundy said there is still a little work to be done before the project is completely finished.

The advanced art class also worked to create a tailgate cover for the back of SRO Tozier’s official truck. For that project a number of different designs were presented before three were selected and presented to the school to be voted upon. The winning design was displayed near the classroom and on the back of Tozier’s Sheriff’s Office truck.

“I love the fact that we can get our students to do work that helps out the entire community,” said Mount View High School Principal Zackary Freeman. “It’s nice to see that our students work is valued by community members. It’s important that our students understand the causes that they help,” he said.

As for his hopes about what the project can accomplish, Freeman had a simple answer: More awareness.

“We as a school are mandatory reporters and we report every time, but as a school we can’t see everything that happens in the community and it’s really important that anybody in the community reports what they see. [The school] only see so much and we try to report everything, but unfortunately we only see a student for about a third of their day.”​

A School Check In program has been established by the SO, where deputies will be responsible for visiting schools in their respective patrol areas on a weekly basis. The SO believes that establishing a better line of communication between themselves and school staff and students will foster a better relationship and may assist in identifying and addressing issues.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com