SRO (School Resource Officer) Day took place this Sunday, February 15. Officer Adam met students, explained his role, and answered questions about safety, law, and school life. Fossils’ own SRO – Officer Adam Brunjes is loved and celebrated by many at Fossil and plays an essential role in keeping our school safe every day. It’s important to celebrate and support him for the work he does for our school and us.
Officer Adams has been a cop for 17 years and an SRO for four years. He focuses on helping kids make the right choices and supporting them, not just punishing them.
“I’ve arrested thousands of people just to see them on the street the next day. I think, ‘Why did I even do that?’ But here, it’s different. I get to work with kids for an entire four years, if possible, and then see them grow up and mature and move on,” Brunjes said.
He came from a very supportive family and is very grateful and says he’s very fortunate to have had that structure. It was an eye-opening experience for him to see the diverse experiences of Fossil students, seeing kids from broken families, different moms and dads, home lives, and how they have to deal with that at school. He expresses how he’s here for students and wants to be a positive influence in students’ lives:
“Students come into my office occasionally for candy, but I also let them know that they talk to me about anything, I am here to support you guys,” Brunjes said.
His advice for students to make the school safer and more positive:
“Avoid drugs, hang out with good people, do what you like together. Sports are important. I see how much sports are part of some of these students’ lives, and just what it builds. I think getting involved in some type of social group can help with feeling connected and having community,” Brunjes said.
He says he thinks most students just see him in his office on his computer but don’t really know what he does. But behind the scenes, they don’t know about the many Safe2Tell stories Fossil gets, which may or may not be violent, dealing with students who might be having bad days, and many more things.
He explains his gratefulness to be supported by Fossil:
“I think I’m well supported here at Fossil. I’m pretty lucky. I know that the admin supports me. They want me here. I think I’ve made good relationships with students, so they know when to come and talk to me about stuff, and know that they’ll be supportive,” Brunjes said.
One Fossil student shares what she appreciates about Officer Adam:
“He’s always here to listen to everything you need to tell him about. He’s very inspiring.
You should just like, come talk to him. I know it can be scary at first, but it’s so nice to have someone you know who supports you, and you can talk to,” said an anonymous student.
“He’s very easy to get along with, and he takes his job very seriously. He loves what he does, and he cares about all of you guys,” said Campus Security Officer Glen Dilldine.
“He’s great because he cares a lot about students and their success after high school. So where he could, like, just give tickets for a ton of stuff, but he doesn’t. He really wants to figure out a way to actually, like, put, put something in there that’s going to actually help the student, continue to grow, rather than just get some sort of a penalty for making a bad decision, “ said Campus Monitor Destiny Smith.