As the school year comes to an end, the High School is excited to welcome a new school resource office to the building. Former SRO Jeremy Weiss will be retiring and Corporal Chris Poehnert will be taking his spot.
Officer Poehnert has been seen shadowing Weiss in the past few weeks, and is making an effort to get to know students and staff around the building, so he is a familiar face for next year.
Poehnert has been a police officer for 19 years and is most excited to be in a school environment and have the ability to work with students and help them throughout their day. Keeping the school safe and helping students with whatever they may need is his top priority.
While the role of being an officer stays the same, working in the school is very different from Officer Poehnert’s previous position. While on patrol, he responded to various calls and never really could predict what was coming.
Here in the school environment, he is mainly here as a mentor and will be dealing with similar situations every day, helping keep students and staff safe.
Aside from his passion for serving his community, Poehnert enjoys many other hobbies outside of work.
“I am a big sports guy, and I love to watch my kids play sports,” Poehnert told The Prowl. He also enjoys going to the gym and spending time with his family in general.
He started his education at Keene State College and then completed a week-long SRO certification which explained the duties and responsibilities that should be fulfilled while working in a school.
Prior to his SRO certification, he worked 6 years in the Detective Division as a Youth and Victims Service Officer and has prior experience working at the middle school here in South Windsor.
So far, he has spent a lot of time shadowing Officer Weiss and learning the layout of the school, as well as learning from the administration what his expectations are for stepping into this role.
Poehnert said that he hopes to make a positive impact by “Being a positive role model for everyone and being there for anybody that needs something.”
If you see him in the halls, make sure you give him a nice warm welcome. He is already very committed to helping everyone here at the High School. His doors are always open to anyone having a rough day who needs to chat, grab some advice, or just cool off.
We are excited to see what next year will bring for Officer Poehnert, and the High School community.
