Program Name: P.A.C.E.R.
Nominator's Name: Sandy Bialick
Title: Teacher
Address: 21 Layne Road
City/State/Zip: Somerset NJ 08873
Nominator's Telephone Number: 732-247-0185
Organization: Pine Grove Manor School
Address: 130 Highland Avenue
City/State/Zip: Somerset NJ 08873
List of Community Partners: Franklin Township Police Department
The nominated program focuses on the following grade level or area: Elementary
District:  Franklin Township
County: Somerset
Address: 1755 Amwell Road
City/State/Zip: Somerset NJ 08873
District Superintendent: Frank V. Pepe, Jr.
District Telephone Number: 732-873-2400
Date of Program Initiation: March 26, 1997

Area 1: Goals:

The goal of our P.A.C.E.R. (Police and Children Engaged in Reading) program is to develop a partnership between the Franklin Township Neighborhood Bicycle Patrol Team and the Pine Grove Manor School that promotes respect and highlights police officers as positive role models. This partnership between the police department and 400 K-3 children operationalized enhancing the joy of reading and fostering literacy.

P.A.C.E.R. addresses the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards for Language Arts literacy, as well as some in social studies and workplace readiness. Literacy standards addressed are: the ability to think creatively and logically; to express ideas and develop interactive thinking skills through reading, speaking, viewing, writing and listening; to use literacy skills individually and in groups to discover personal and shared meaning throughout their lives. Moreover the joy of reading, knowledge of the school and its community, and future careers is fostered.

Area 2: Activities:

P.A.C.E.R. provides Pine Grove Manor School with at least two officers from the Township Bicycle Police Team who spend every Wednesday at the school reading with every class. Teachers work with the police officers selecting books that integrate readings with the curriculum and address the needs of the children. The students share ideas groups engaging in such activities as retelling stories and follow-up writing assignments.

The P.A.C.E.R. officers join the children in programs such as "Read for 2001" and "Read for 2002," a Scholastic Books sponsored program that unites the children in reading with children around the world. The police officers participate in every "Read Across America" celebration and in "Family Reading Nights." P.A.C.E.R. officers together with students and their families join in a shared reading experience. The children dressed in their pajamas, carrying pillows and blankets move from "station to station" and travel through the world of literature, as the P.A.C.E.R. officers and parents read a variety of stories to them.

Area 3: Resources:

The budgetary expenses for this program are minimal. The Pine Grove Manor Parent-Teacher Organization supplements the program by providing the books that the officers read for each classroom. The most important resources are the members of the Franklin Township Neighborhood Bicycle Police Team, the Chief of Police of Franklin Township, community leaders, school personnel, and the parents.

Area 4: Evaluation:

The quality of life in the Pine Grove Manor School, as well as in the adjacent low-income apartment complex where a good portion of the Pine Grove students reside, has improved dramatically. A sincere bond of respect and friendship has developed between the students and the police officers. This has resulted in the children's viewing the police officers as positive role models. These relationships have on several occasions kept children from taking the wrong road in their lives. The mentoring support that the Franklin Township Police Department gives to the students of Pine Grove has reaped rewards and positive results in the neighborhood and community surrounding the Pine Grove Manor School

The success of this program has also dramatically improved the students' performance in school. Students have shown an increased interest in reading. Indicators include: the increased number of books read in our summer reading programs, the "Book-it" Program and the "Read Across America Program" participation, and the larger volume of books borrowed from our library and classrooms. The children show improved writing, (creative and critical) skills. The feedback from the students as well as the parents has generated much media interest in the program. The officers of the Franklin Township Neighborhood Police Bicycle Team are patient and caring and make every child feel extremely important. The children's positive reaction to the officers is unprecedented in the history of Franklin Township, our school district and of the Franklin Township Police Department.

Area 5: Stability:

P.A.C.E.R. is a program created and developed in 1997 by Mrs. Sandy Bialick, a second grade teacher in Pine Grove Manor. She recognized the potential benefits of a partnership between Pine Grove School and the police department. Many children attending the school live in low-income housing developments adjacent to it. Issues requiring police presence in the neighborhood fostered attitudes of mistrust and disrespect for police attitudes. P.A.C.E.R. was created to help the students develop respect and appreciation for them.

P.A.C.E.R. was introduced on March 26, 1997 as members of the school community and the greater community of Franklin Township were invited to a kickoff assembly. Many dignitaries including the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, the President of the Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce, the Director of the Franklin Township Food Bank, Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and local radio personalities attended. The Chief of Police read "The Cat in the Hat" to the entire assembly.

For the past five years the P.A.C.E.R. program has become and will continue to be an integral part of the Pine Grove Manor School, as well as part of the community culture. P.A.C.E.R. has been honored and recognized for promoting high student achievement and for building community relationships by:

• New Jersey Department of Education at the "Equity Hall of Fame and Pride Model Program Initiative"
• New Jersey School Boards Association with the "School Leader Award" for 1997
• The Courier News Newspaper as the outstanding program in the reading/language arts category of "Ideas That Work," an annual series on successful school programs
• The Central New Jersey Reading Association "Excellence in Teaching of Reading Award" to the teacher who developed this program
• 1998 National League of Cities Excellence in Community Policing Award in the Community Policing in Schools/Youths/Gangs category awarded to the Township Police Department
• This program was presented to a Rutgers University Summer Institute under the direction of Dr. Dorothy Strickland as a creative model program
• This program was recognized and honored by the Franklin Township Town Council as an outstanding program that helps to bring the community together
• The program was recognized and honored by the Franklin Township Board of Education
  

Area 6: Endorsements:

This program is fully supported by the entire Franklin Township Police Department. The Franklin Township Town Council supports this program. The educational leaders from the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools and his administrative staff, as well as the Principal and staff of Pine Grove Manor School support the program. The children from Kindergarten through third grade, and their parents are avid supporters of this partnership. They all reap the many benefits that this program offers.

"Since 1997 Neighborhood Police Team Officers have participated in a program at the Pine Grove Manor School called P.A.C.E.R. Mrs. Sandy Bialick, a teacher at Pine Grove, developed the program, in conjunction with the Franklin Township Police Department. P.A.C.E.R. was instituted to bring police and students together in a positive activity - reading. The N.P.T. officers go to Pine Grove every Wednesday and read stories to students from Kindergarten to third grade. After reading, the students are given an opportunity to ask the officers questions.

P.A.C.E.R. allows the students to get to know the officers on a personal level, thus making the children comfortable with Police Officers. The students learn that the police are there to help them. Programs such as P.A.C.E.R. reinforce communication and community cooperation between police and youth. Our Police Department is honored to partake in such a wonderful project and looks forward to continuing to build relationships with children, parents and educators in the community."

Craig R. Novick - Chief of Police, Franklin Township

"The P.A.C.E.R. Program not only encourages the love of words and reading in our children, it fosters an invaluable sense of community. The children have become familiar with the officers, know them by name, and enjoy a relationship that carries outside of the classroom. By reading to the children, the officers are not only helping to build a lifetime reading habit, their presence shows the children (and teachers, staff, and parents) that the sight of a uniform needn't necessarily trigger the question "what's wrong?" but affirms what's right in our school."

Sharee Hopler, Parent

"The P.A.C.E.R. officers are special to me because they take time out of their day to read to us. When they read to us they make me feel like reading more books about that topic and other topics. I feel safe, listening to the P.A.C.E.R. officers. I'm happy when I hear them talking to me. We ask them questions about how they stay safe and how they keep us safe. The P.A.C.E.R. officers are my best friends."

Danielle Prongay, Third Grade Student