Willow Springs, MO. –Jerry Wickens, joins Glen Moore and Nick Schmitt of Willow Springs R-IV in receiving certification as a School Safety Specialist. Jerry participated in the recent School Safety Academy sponsored by Missouri School Boards’ Association’s Center for Education Safety. The event was held in August 2022 in Jefferson City and was designed to train and certify school safety coordinators. School safety personnel from 45 school districts throughout the state attended the academy at no cost to local school districts.
“It’s essential that students, teachers, and staff are in a safe learning environment,” Center for Education Safety Director Amy Roderick said. “Schools must have processes and protocols in place and then have their staff trained to implement the practices and policies to ensure our students feel safe at school, so they can focus on learning,” she added.
Topics of the School Safety Academy included support systems for behaviors, legal aspects of school safety, trauma-informed and mental health resources, intervention and de-escalation, emergency preparedness and plan building, behavioral risk and threat assessments, and cyber security fundamentals.
The CES School Safety Academy includes the basic training needed to certify school safety coordinators with plans to expand to more advanced training and certification as the program builds and expands over the coming years.
