APACHE, Ariz. (KGUN) — While some schools have resource officers roaming the halls for added security, Apache Elementary School students have two Cochise County Sheriff Assist Team (SAT) members they look forward to seeing.
For seventh grader Levi Long, having the SAT members on school grounds adds a sense of security to him and his classmates. His favorite part is when they bring treats for the students in the one-room school house. But for Head Teacher Loy Ann Guzman and Instructional Aid Frank Zepeda having Dan Long and Jim Valhovich around is the treat.
“I feel at ease that okay when we’re in the classroom I’m not constantly looking at the fences and stuff from the windows here and can see out,” Guzman said.
The relationship between the school and the county SAT team started with a broken radio.
“One day my daughter, that same year, she called me and said ‘mom Cochise County is giving out radios.’ Like what police officers have," Guzman said. "So I called the sheriffs department and they got me hooked up and got me one. Brought it out here and it didn’t work.”
Long and Valhovich responded to the school to help fix the broken radio, but instead of simply fixing the radio they found 12 reasons to keep coming back.
“There are (12) reasons sitting in the room right next to us," Long said. "We have adopted this school. Those kids have captures our hearts. And this is the way we give back and help the community out here.”
The school serves 12 students in the Portal, Ariz. area and is in the middle of "nowhere." Guzman who lives in the teacher's house says it's like living on the prairie because of how far out it is. The school is located 40 miles from Douglas and seven mile from the Arizona-New Mexico border.
Living on school grounds allows Guzman to keep an eye on the property. She says she has encounters with migrants who cross the border illegally four times a week, mostly at night. One of her security tactics was to get guard dogs so they alert her when there is somebody near by.
“They would come to the school fence," Guzman said. "They would come to the gate and come to my door and they would turn the door. And they would say ‘hello. Hello.' wanting something.”
Because of the help of Long, Valhovich and other members of the SAT team a new security camera system was donated to the school. A company in New Jersey heard the school's needs and donated the equipment. Long, who worked in the security industry before retiring installed the cameras. The video feed goes to the sheriffs department and border patrol so they can see what it happening near the school.
Guzman said people ask her if she's worried about her privacy because the cameras will be constantly rolling and she said she's not because now she feels safe and knows help is close by.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
