Murphy – Helen Fulford always knew she wanted to be in law enforcement.
“I loved working for patrol and investigations,” Fulford said of her time as a sheriff’s deputy, “but something beautiful happens when you walk you get to walk with the kids.”
That’s why Fulford jumped at a chance to become a school resource officer with Cherokee County Schools.
“You’re ultimately the
first interaction these kids have with law enforcement,” she said, “and it can be
positive.”
In a social climate where law enforcement officers may not always be revered, Fulford welcomes the chance to shatter myths around her profession.
“We are blessed in the community we live in,” she said. “Not every area is as supportive of officers as Cherokee County is.”
She said it’s not uncommon for sheriff’s deputies and N.C. Highway Patrol troopers to walk down hallways together.
“It shows unity and helps students overcome fear,” Fulford said. “They see us in a positive light.”
Fulford was busy enjoying her SRO position when then-superintendent Jeana Conley initiated the DARE program for Cherokee County Schools. The Drug Awareness Resistance Education program began in the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1983, when the drug crisis began affecting children.
The school’s health education curriculum director, Dr. Ruth Rich, developed a 17-lesson drug awareness program for all elementary schools in her district. Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were trained to teach the
program.
Because of the success in L.A., the program gained national attention. In 1989, DARE expanded by becoming the national nonprofit DARE America organization, which helped to implement drug awareness into the schools across the nation.
Conley, eager to introduce Cherokee County Schools to the information, added DARE to the curriculum in 2019. She tapped Fulford to run the program.
“I went through a one-month instructor’s training through the N.C. DARE Association, and we were set to launch when COVID hit,” Fulford said.
As a result, the program sat dormant while school instruction remained virtual. So when the 2021-22
school year opened with bustling hallways and seated classes, Fulford was ready
to run in her position as
district coordinator for DARE. The program focuses on fifth- and seventh-
graders.
“The early training was all about teaching kids about specific drugs and their dangers,” she said. “But the new program is about teaching kids to think about choices. We don’t introduce street slang. We try to help them in any situation they are in whether it’s drug related or a bad family situation.”
Every fifth- and seventh-grade student is offered the educational opportunity.
“We teach them critical thinking, drug awareness and safety awareness,” Fulford said.
The 10-week course has reinvented itself since its original mission “to implement and support drug abuse resistance education and crime prevention programs in the USA.” The modern DARE program centers on “teaching students good decision making skills to helping them lead safe and healthy lives,” according to the mission statement on their IRS tax filings.
For Cherokee County, those decision-making skills center around vaping, internet safety, and cyber and social bullying. As a born rule follower, Fulford made a risky decision last year.
“The curriculum requires a written essay at the end
of the course,” she said. “Each lesson is designed to be different. They are interactive and involve sharing ideas.”
But Fulford felt that the written essay wouldn’t encapsulate the pith of the students’ experience.
“They write so much in school,” she said. “That [essay] doesn’t show them what it feels like to get out there and help. I learn better by doing than by lecture. I want them to be more involved and want to do more.”
With that in mind, Fulford designed a community outreach program for her students to organize and implement as part of their final project. Last year, her students planned a food drive.
“When I say ‘driven by students,’ we, the adults, don’t hand out fliers, we don’t use social media to help them or amp it for school,” she said. “The kids go into their classrooms, give out fliers. They go to their churches, parents.”
Fulford’s job was to guide and inspire the project.
“The kids are 100 percent behind what comes in,” she said.
What came in were 1,450 non-perishable food items, which they distributed to food banks in Cherokee County. The winning class receives a prize.
“This year’s winner, the Murphy Elementary School fifth grade, will receive a pizza lunch and a movie in coordination with Downtown Pizza Co.,” Fulford said. “We get funding from a lot of local businesses. The ABC store donates every year.”
Conley and Fulford didn’t just make a splash in Cherokee County. Their DARE efforts were noticed on a state level.
Last summer, Conley received the Educator Award from the N.C. DARE Association for her role in supporting the program in Cherokee County. For her ideas and focused energy, Fulford was honored as the N.C. DARE Officer of the Year.
However, Fulford doesn’t like the attention focused on her. “Dr. Conley is the reason we have this program,” she said. “But it’s all about the kids.”
Her seventh-grade kids chose to partner with the Valley River Humane Society for their community based project this year. They collected canned foods, pet beds and other animal related comforts.
The seventh-grade class at Hiawassee Dam won the prize for the their organizational and outreach efforts. Fulford is proud of her students and is already looking toward next semester when she will begin again.
“I fell in love with the
program and training,” she said. “So far we’ve gotten positive feedback. The kids are interested and involved, and that shows in the community-based project success.”