“Are you doing all right? Is there anything that you need help with?” Gates Mills Elementary School resource officer Archie Kimbrew, Jr., asked a student as he walked through the halls.
Students and staff consider the 54-year-old officer from Chardon a “fan-favorite” face throughout the halls of the elementary school in the Mayfield City School District.
While he has been an officer for Gates Mills Village for 22 years, Mr. Kimbrew has been stationed at Gates Mills Elementary for four years, assisting in arrival and dismissal, assisting students with schoolwork and any other small tasks he is assigned by the school administration. He is the only officer in the Gates Mills Police Department that is assigned as a resource officer and is an officer that prides himself on the rapport he builds with students and their families.
“I’ve gotten to know the families,” Mr. Kimbrew said. “I’ve gone to birthday parties and baptisms.
“I go to those things off hours, just because the kids get to know me and they appreciate me. I feel obligated. If they invite me, I’m going to go,” he continued.
Whether it’s throwing a football on a sunny day or playing basketball in the gym on a rainy day, Mr. Kimbrew said that he takes time to “help forget about school” for the time being.
“There’s empathy,” he explained, “I could put myself in their shoes. I’ve been there.”
If kids have a good relationship with a police officer now, he said, they will be comfortable with approaching an officer “down the road” if they need any assistance.
Mr. Kimbrew is also in charge of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program for the school, educating students about everything from substance abuse and bullying to public speaking.
Mr. Kimbrew said the Gates Mills Police Department has always been a very “community-based” police force, and his efforts have been matched with accolades from parents, staff and Gates Mills officials all the same.
Noting Mr. Kimbrew’s work is Gates Mills Elementary Principal Laurel Ravida.
“He is one of the most positive role models that we have at the school for the kids,” Ms. Ravida said. “He is loved by every kid here. He plays with them. He works with them in the classroom.
“He’s just the best,” she continued. “He’s loved by all and I can’t say enough positive things about him.”
The students also praise the officer and show their appreciation by doing as much as asking Mr. Kimbrew, a father himself, to step in as a father-figure in their lives.
“It makes me feel wonderful that they’re able to open up and ask me that question,” Mr. Kimbrew said, noting that it’s a way of showing that he is doing his job.
“Reaching out to them knowing I’m available and knowing that they care for me that much, that they’re willing to open up to you, it means a lot.”
While Mr. Kimbrew is a self-proclaimed introvert in nature and likes to be “behind the scenes,” the appreciation he receives makes him feel “wonderful.”
“That’s all you need in life, is for people to appreciate what you do. And knowing that you could or probably are making a difference, even if it’s one kid, it means a lot.
“[The community] appreciates what I do, and it makes me proud.”
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