“Officer Buckle and Gloria” is a story about a school police officer who gives safety presentations that are dull and put his viewers to sleep. When the officer gets a new police dog, he is able to capture the attention of his audience.
As the story goes on, Officer Buckle and police dog Gloria realize how much they need each other and how special their teamwork and bond are.
Crestview Kindergarten teacher Stephanie Brown said after reading the book, she knew that her students needed a real-life example of Officer Buckle and Gloria, and knew that this would serve as a chance for some unique learning opportunities.
“Since we talk a lot about safety and friendship at the beginning of the year, this book serves as a great text to reinforce what we have been learning,” Brown said. “After reading the book, we worked to create a class letter to a safety officer requesting them to bring their dog to visit. One of the biggest components of writing instruction is modeling for our kindergarten students. As we worked together to write the letter we talked about planning prior to writing, counting words, sentence structure and worked to sound out the words.”
Brown said that when Lieutenant Penn and K9 Lily arrived the kids were ecstatic!
“Lieutenant Penn and K9 Lily were a big hit with the students,” Brown said. “They loved to see the similarities between the book and the real dog and loved hearing how Officer Penn takes care of Lily.”
Lieutenant Amy Penn has been part of the Frenship Police Department since 2006. She brought K9 Lily on board in October 2019.
“Lily is a six year old Belgian Malinois,” Penn said. “Lily was at Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office before coming to Frenship PD. She really enjoys being around the kiddos!”
Lieutenant Penn said presentations like this are important for students of all ages because it’s helpful to have positive interactions with law enforcement. Penn explained that she showed the kids around her police car, talked about how she takes care of Lily, and explained the role of the Frenship Police Department.
“Of course, having the dog is an extra bonus,” Penn said. “Most of the kids remember Lily’s name, but they don’t remember mine, and I am okay with that.”