YOUTH POLICE ACADEMY
Program to teach law enforcement
Starting this fall, Grade 9 students in the city will be able to gain policing skills while also checking off their high school requirements.
The Scott Police Academy is launching this fall as a partnership between the Regina Police Service (RPS) and Regina Public Schools, giving students a unique high school experience that incorporates elements of law enforcement training.
The academy will be jointly led by Jodie Sonntag, teacher and co-ordinator with Regina Public Schools, and RPS Const. Trevor Weir.
“Our goal is to create a cohort of students who become kind of like a little academy family that can rely on each other and move through school together,” Sonntag said.
Students will still take all the high school classes they need to graduate, but with a law enforcement twist.
“For example, students in English ... may work on writing evidence logs as one of their assignments in comparison to something that they would just do in a different English class,” she said.
“Lots of students ... don’t learn in one prescribed way, and I think this is a program that can show them a flexible way of learning (and) also give them that hands on practical experience that a lot of students crave.”
The academy will be run out of Scott Collegiate and is open to any student in Regina entering Grade 9 this fall. Sonntag said the hope is to create classes for grades 10 to 12 as the first group moves through the program, so that in four years the academy will be a complete program for grades 9 to 12.
Academy students will have classes separate from other students and move as a single group through them. The academy also will be more structured than a typical school, with drills and uniforms.
While the program will likely appeal to youth interested in law enforcement, Weir said the skills learned will be valuable in any career field.
“We’re just trying to build strong, young members of society in Regina. We’re just trying to instil some self confidence, some leadership, some competitive job skills and communication skills,” he said.
The academy also is expected to provide an opportunity for police to build a strong relationship with Regina’s youth.
“It gives the students an opportunity to see a police officer as a person as well, not just as a uniform or someone behind the badge,” he said.
Sonntag said the program also emphasizes community connection, by having students do volunteer work and work with police officer mentors.
Students do not have to commit to staying in the academy for all of high school if they begin in Grade 9, and once the program has expanded to higher grades, students will be able to join in any grade.
“We obviously know that there’s different reasons that students may choose to come and go from a program so we will be flexible in regards to that,” said Sonntag.
Scott Collegiate is hosting an open house on March 10 at 5:30 p.m. Sonntag and Weir will both be there to answer any questions people might have about the police academy. The school will also be holding a second open house specifically about the academy at the end of March.
Anyone interested in registering for the program can find the form on the Scott Police Academy’s page on Scott Collegiate’s website.