New Course in Character Education from the Junior Police Academy

Media Kit:

AmericanPoliceOfficer:the Junior Police Academy

GOOD CHARACTER Challenge

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The Junior Police Academy, a nationwide youth program, is pleased to announce the launch of American Police Officer, a new course in character education.

Taught in middle school by school resource officers, American Police Officer recognizes that police officers are uniquely qualified not only to teach, but also to inspire good character in our youth.

“To truly inspire good character, you have to put kids in the room with it,” said Phillip LeConte, JPA Executive Director. “Over the past twenty years, the Junior Police Academy has been doing just that – proactively bringing young people and law enforcement professionals together.”

Styled after an actual police academy, the course explores the meaning and consequences of good character as seen through the eyes of law enforcement professionals – teaching students both the skills and the virtues needed to be informed and productive citizens.

Good Character Detectives To pass the course, students must take the “JPA Good Character Challenge” – a project which requires students to seek-out people from their community who exemplify the course’s seven core good character traits: Justice, Diligence, Courage, Generosity, Integrity, Enthusiasm and Wisdom.

“While the course provides students a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse into good character against the momentous backdrop of law enforcement; we end with the Challenge, revealing these traits at work in the students’ own life,” added LeConte, who authored the course.

Pilot Programs Begin in FallNearly 600 police departments have requested American Police Officer, which is being distributed this summer from JPA’s national headquarters in Austin, Texas. Starting this fall, several cities will serve as pilot programs for American Police Officer, including Austin, Texas, Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Oblong, Illinois.

The course is free to police departments and schools.

Now in its 20th year, the Junior Police Academy often marks the start of a young person actively assuming their lifelong role as informed citizens, extending the program's true impact far into the future.

Online Media Kit: http://policeusa.minus.com/mPresskit/1g

New Course Explores Good Character Through the Eyes of American Law Enforcement

For Immediate Release: July 4, 2012

SUMMARY:Junior Police Academy, a leading provider of police programming for youth, is pleased to announce the launch of “American Police Officer”, a new course in character education.

FAST FACTS: Nearly 600 police departments have requested the program which is being distributed this summer from JPA’s national headquarters in Austin, Texas.

The course is free to police departments and schools.

PRESS CONTACT:Kelly LeConte, JPA Program Director512-712-5564kleconte@policeusa.com

Contact information for JPA’s law enforcement Advisory Council is available upon request.

Junior Police Academy1009 W. 6th Street, #205, Austin, Texas 78703 512-712-5564

JuniorPoliceAcademy.org

The Secret of the Challenge

To pass American Police Officer, students must take the “JPA Good Character Challenge” – a project which requires students to seek-out people from their community who exemplify the course’s seven core good character traits: Justice, Diligence, Courage, Generosity, Integrity, Enthusiasm and Wisdom.

Students who complete the Challenge are presented with the JPA Good Character Challenge Pin in recognition of their exceptional act of good character. The exact nature of this accomplishment is

only revealed to student recipients upon presentation of the award.

Words spoken to recipients of

JPA Good Character Challenge Pin:

JPA’s Good Character Challenge Pin is awarded for an exceptional act of good character. By successfully completing the “JPA Good Character Challenge” and recognizing the people in your life who exemplify “Justice, Diligence, Courage, Generosity, Integrity, Enthusiasm and Wisdom” you have demonstrated what is, perhaps, the ultimate act of good character – gratitude.

To perceive that which merits gratitude and to sincerely express it throughout your life is the very soul of good character. This is especially true in those moments when you are moved by an enlightened sense of justice, diligence, courage, generosity, integrity, enthusiasm and/or wisdom. We are proud to recognize your achievement.

“Good character is ultimately defined and inspired by people, not the dictionary,” said Kelly LeConte, Program Director. “We encourage educators to seize on this as an opportunity to leverage the experience of their school resource officers, along with those members of the community who serve as role models.”

“While the national organization is proud to award students a pin for completing the Good Character Challenge,” said LeConte, “a more enduring reward will be cultivated among members of your community. Years from now, citizens will look back in wonderment that being recognizing for good character remains one of their greatest moments of pride.”

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Online Media Kit: http://policeusa.minus.com/mPresskit/1g

• American Police Officer: The Junior Police Academy Good Character Challenge” is a new course in character building from the Junior Police Academy.

• The program is an extension of the Junior Police Academy’s central philosophy:  To truly inspire good character, you have to put kids in the room with it!  Over the past twenty years, the Junior Police Academy has been doing just that – proactively bringing young people and law enforcement professionals together.

• Preparing young people to be responsible citizens is the obligation of adult citizens in the United States. This means providing young people with not only vocational skills, but also the qualities of character that make possible a life of dignity.

• American Police Officer focuses on seven key character traits: Justice, Diligence, Courage, Generosity, Integrity, Enthusiasm and Wisdom. The students examine how American law enforcement officers put each trait to the extreme test to meet the challenges of public safety.

• Through the course students gain a fundamental appreciation for how good character is vitally alive in the world around them.  

• Every community in the United States is brimming with excellent examples of good character. The problem is young people do not make the connection.

• Taught by SROs or community police officers, American Police Officer recognizes that police officers are uniquely qualified to inspire students.

• Police officers hold an advanced degree in good character! They can’t hang it on a wall, but they can put it into the classroom to inspire a new generation to time honored values.

• American Police Officer  culminates with the “JPA Good Character Challenge” –  a quest requiring students to do some detective work of their own.  

• Each student is assigned to be on the lookout for actions or deeds matching the description of Justice, Diligence, Courage, Generosity, Integrity,

Enthusiasm and Wisdom. The Challenge is complete when the student selects someone who best exemplifies each trait.

• JPA has created the Good Character Challenge Pin, which is awarded to students at the end of the course for an exceptional act of good character, the exact nature of which is only revealed to students upon successfully completing the Challenge.

• Nearly 600 police departments have requested the program which is being distributed this summer from JPA’s national headquarters in Austin, Texas.

• The course is free to police departments and schools.

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The Junior Police Academy is a course in advanced citizenship. The program often marks the start of a young person actively assuming their lifelong role as informed citizens, extending the program's true impact far into the future.

Now in its 20th year, the Junior Police Academy's impact can be measured across an entire generation of graduating cadets.  Today, there are citizens across the country who better understand their civic responsibilities because of JPA, contributing to the life of their community and their country in ways that enhance public safety and solve problems.

In teaching cadets about the role of police, we also inspire young people to assume their own role as champions of justice.  In this regard, the Junior Police Academy often marks the start of a young person actively assuming their lifelong role as informed citizens – extending the program’s true impact far into the future!

Historic TraditionThe Junior Police Academy is built on the premise that public safety officers provide an ideal role model for mutual respect, tolerance and the peaceful resolution of conflict.

The value of police departments working with young people was recognized early on. “Junior” or “boy police” programs started appearing during the first two decades of the 20th century, sponsored by local police departments or schools in places like Berkeley, California; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Cincinnati, Ohio; and New York City.

With the adoption of community policing in recent decades, programs embracing the original spirit of these efforts started to reemerge.

Founded in 1992, the Junior Police Academy was among the first and has

steadily established its leadership over the past 20 years.

While programs for ‘cops & kids’ have a long history, the Junior Police Academy has the distinction of elevating police/youth programming from ‘recreational activities’ to being an accredited part of middle school curriculum.

In doing so, JPA continues to help reshape education and the role of law enforcement in America.

National OfficeWhile the real magic of the Junior Police Academy happens at the local level, the national office can be the catalyst that gets a program started.  The resources of our national headquarters are committed to streamlining the process of establishing a program and keeping it vital.

Our educational materials are available free to police departments and schools. If you have any questions or wish to visit with an experienced JPA instructor, the knowledge and enthusiasm of our leadership is always a phone call away.

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