Learning about ‘real heroes’
Mt. Pleasant Township Police Chief Louis McQuillan answers children’s questions about the duties of a police officer.
Robinson police officer Frank Bryan and his K-9 Sarik address the children participating in Heritage Public Library’s summer reading program.
Mt. Pleasant Township Police Chief Louis McQuillan reads a story to children at Heritage Public Library in McDonald.
McDONALD – “What would happen if society didn’t have rules or laws?” a visitor asked a group of children gathered recently at Heritage Public Library.
“The apocalypse!” rang out a small voice from among the youngsters participating in the library’s summer reading program focused on everyday heroes in the community.
Mt. Pleasant Township Police Chief Louis McQuillan was on hand at a session several weeks ago to speak about what the duties of a police officer are, and what they do to enforce the law and keep citizens safe.
“It was nice to be invited down and deal with the kids to get the message across that police officers are good people and we’re here to help them,” McQuillan said.
McQuillan answered several questions after speaking, and finished by reading from a children’s book. The response from the children was nothing if not enthusiastic.
“I grew up spending time in a library, and I still bring my kids to the library. So when you see kids that are willing to come here during their summer vacation and be excited about being in a library, excited about reading and also excited participating in the program … I think that’s wonderful,” McQuillan said.
The book McQuillan read from was called “Officer Buckle and Gloria,” a story about a police dog that is perfectly obedient to her owner’s commands, but often does silly things when he isn’t looking. It served as a lead-in to the next guest, Robinson police officer Frank Bryan, who came with his K-9, Sarik.
He spoke about what the job of a police dog is, and even had Sarik demonstrate how he sniffs out drugs. For many kids, Sarik stole the show. Landen Snyder, an 8-year-old from Burgettstown, said Sarik was his favorite part of the day.
“He was soft and fuzzy,” Snyder said.
Throughout the summer, more community heroes will read to the children, such as firefighters, members of the military, and emergency medical professionals, according to the director of the library, Mary Duranti. Duranti was very pleased with the outcome of the day.
“The kids were really excited about meeting the K-9 officer, and I thought they were really well-behaved and very respectful,” Duranti said. “They had a lot of good questions and understood why we need to have police officers, laws and rules.”