shay.wessol@roanoke.com 381-1665

Deputy Chris Lucas proudly displays a framed print of the old Blacksburg High School Indians logo on his office wall.

At first glance, it seems an odd decor choice for the new school resource officer for Christiansburg Middle School.

But Lucas, a 1986 graduate of Blacksburg High School, just smiles. He hopes students take notice of the print and decide to tell him what they think about it.

"That's their rival," Lucas said. "And the more kids who come in and give me grief about it, the more kids I'm talking to. It's a great conversation starter."

Starting conversations and eventually building relationships with students is one of the key goals of the school resource officer program, which started this year at the county's three middle schools.

This summer, Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Whitt received three $46,000 state grants to put resource officers in Christiansburg, Shawsville and Auburn middle schools. The county and the school board allocated $31,074 in matching funds.

Christiansburg Middle School had a school resource officer from the Christiansburg Police Department until last fall, when the new school was built outside the town limits. The Blacksburg Police Department provides a school resource officer to Blacksburg Middle School.

The county already has resource officers at Eastern Montgomery and Auburn high schools.

"I just see this as a win-win situation," Whitt said. "I think [the deputies] have an opportunity to impress on these young minds a very positive image of a police officer." Lucas, deputy Gary Seagraves and deputy Steven Partin were chosen to fill the new positions earlier this month. Each is an experienced deputy who wanted to work with teenagers, Whitt said.

"They got the positions because they were interested in doing this," he said.

Lucas, who worked as a special education aide, administrative assistant, and baseball and football coach in the New River Valley and in Ohio before joining the sheriff's office, said he jumped at the opportunity to again work with students full-time.

"The one thing I want to make sure the students know in this school is that my door is always open. I'm here for them," he said. "I want the kids to know that if they're having a bad day and want somebody to talk to who's not a teacher, I'm not a teacher."

Seagraves, the resource officer at Auburn Middle School, said he hopes to teach his students about law enforcement and to learn something from them in return.

"Kids can teach you a lot, not just about themselves but about their families, their communities and where they come from," he said.

But first, Seagraves said he is working to be visible to the students and let them get to know him during these first few days of classes.

In time, Partin, who's working at Shawsville Middle School, hopes to become a friend to many of his students and impact their worlds.

"I really think I can make a difference in their lives," he said. "I'm an approachable guy, and I want to be their friend."

Goals of any school resource officer program also include providing security and dealing with crimes that occur on campuses, but individual programs are tailored to schools' specific needs. For now, all three deputies said they're focused on getting acclimated to their schools.

Principal Peter Wonson said Christiansburg Middle's program will grow throughout the school year.

"I think as we go through the year, we'll be working with the parents, the faculty and staff and the community to define it as we go," Wonson said.School resource officersChris

LucasChristiansburg Middle School

7 years at sheriff's officeSteven PartinShawsville Middle School

4 years at sheriff's officeGary SeagravesAuburn

Middle School

5 years at sheriff's officeGoals of any school resource officer program include providing security and dealing with crimes that occur on campuses, but individual programs are tailored to schools' specific needs.