Serving Those Who Serve Us: Building Community with Our First Responders

As we all spend time in reflection today, in remembrance of everyone impacted by the events of 9/11/01, we also take time to be incredibly grateful for the first responders who are working for us now - putting their lives on the line to protect and enhance our community.

Our St. Agnes-St. Dominic school family has two very important outreach programs demonstrating gratitude for our first responders in a tangible way. The first of these, which began in 2002, is our annual tradition of collecting snack foods and delivering baskets to police and fire stations to honor the anniversary of 9/11 and to recognize the bravery and sacrifices of first responders. 

Thanks to our families, Junior High Beta Club members were able to assemble nineteen baskets this year-the most baskets ever! Father Nicholas prayed over the baskets at Mass last week, and the 7^th grade students and faculty delivered the baskets citywide on September 10.

The second outreach, our monthly COP (Community of Protectors) Stop lunches, began in 2016 as a way of building community with our local EMS, fire and law enforcement officials. The school invites officers from the Tillman Precinct and the Appling Precinct along with Mendenhall fire station to join us for lunch on the second Tuesday of each month.

Katie Perkins, School Safety and Security Coordinator, takes time to give our special guests tours of campus when they are here for lunch. She shared the importance of these regular interactions with our community of protectors: “We do not want the first time they are on our campus to be in an emergency situation. We want them to know our campus, to know us, and we want our students to know them. We have a shared commitment to maintain the safety of our community. We want to be a support system for them and vice versa.”

Students enjoy meeting the men and women who are protecting their community, and they have begun to build relationships with these dedicated first responders. For our first COP Stop of this school year, we were honored to have Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis join us for lunch. Our Lower School girls had a lot to say and were full of questions for her!

Beth Odom, Director of Dominican Catholic Identity, spoke to the service component of these programs: “I am proud to be part of the COP Stop initiative and to help organize 9/11 goody baskets for our local police and fire stations. It’s a meaningful way to show our deep appreciation for everything they do, not only for our school but also for the broader community. This effort also helps our students understand how fortunate we are to have such a dedicated community protecting us.”

Throughout the year our local first responders are a presence on campus through other safety and community-building activities as well: talking with our junior high students about the importance of situational awareness, presenting to our educators regarding the most up-to-date protocols for emergency situations, and even donating steering wheel locks for students and staff. Most importantly, they participate regularly in and evaluate our safety drills, providing meaningful feedback to enhance our protocols and procedures. We are grateful for their support!