Over 50 students at the Edison School of the Arts graduated with their certificates from the G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education And Training) program, a 30-year-old national gang and violence prevention program taught by local departments for school-aged children.
Implemented by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police in 1998, retired officer Marilyn Gurnell still hosts the program and focuses on teaching kids conflict resolution, anger management, and providing them with good decision-making skills.
“I was a part of this same program when I was a kid, so Ms. Marilyn’s been teaching G.R.E.A.T. for decades,” said Maj. Corey Mims with IMPD’s Community Engagement Outreach Bureau. “I’ve been fortunate enough for that to be the foundation for me, growing up, going into my professional career. These kids will be able to take a lot of those skills and abilities that they’ve learned, later on in life, and use those.”
Oryn Hunter, an 11-year-old sixth grader, was announced as winning first place in an essay contest during the graduation, where he wrote about peer pressure to avoid fighting, smoking and not bringing weapons to schools.
“My favorite skill that I learned was how to calm myself down in tough situations because I have a hard time calming myself down,” Hunter said. “If you’re mad or somebody’s being mean to you, you can tell a teacher or tell your parents and talk about it with somebody.”
Genesis Ramon, another 11-year-old sixth grader, said the program has taught her how to be a better citizen for Indianapolis and a better student for her school.
“Sometimes we did some plays, and sometimes she asked us questions, but the learning process was, she gave us a scenario, and we used to answer questions. We would talk about it, and it helped us understand,” Ramon said. “It’s definitely needed at this time because there’s a lot of stuff going around in the world right now, and with this training, we understand what to do and what not to do in hard situations.”
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Decades of the G.R.E.A.T program still positively impacting students
Reporting by Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
