A Blenheim student has been recognized for her artistic talent as part of a relationship-building program between police and the community.
Jolene Wood, a Grade 5 student at Harwich Raleigh Public School, was presented with a plaque and a t-shirt with her winning design on Monday for the 2024-2025 V.I.P. (Values, Influences and Peers) t-shirt artistic design contest.
Wood’s winning design will now be worn by all V.I.P. graduates at public schools within the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
The V.I.P. program, which was founded in 1982, is taught locally by the Chatham-Kent Police Service to build a positive community-police relationship with students and their teachers. Lessons taught to Grade 5 students include authority and authority figures, youth and the law, bike and helmet safety, bullying, and making good choices. The lessons are preventive in nature and allow students to evaluate the consequences of making poor choices.