Walking the halls, many students will see Sonia Gregoire, Manhattan High School’s Student Resource Officer, patrolling around the school to check for students skipping class.

But many students don’t know just how much experience with kids and teenagers Gregoire has.

“I’ve always been really involved with kids and young adults… so it’s kind of a natural transition to move into being an SRO,” Gregoire said. “When I was in investigations, I was in charge of investigating child abuse, child sex cases, anything that had to involve children. I have also gone to basic and advanced SRO school.”

WIth all the experience Gregoire has with serious cases involving children, she wants the students of MHS to know that she is always available for any problem no matter how serious or how silly it seems. 

“People know I’m out and about, some people don’t know where the SRO offices are, so it’s easier for them just to find me in the hallway,” Gregoire said. “We can pass them anywhere from a crime related event, to anything to do with just drama, teen drama, to issues at home.”

Assisting in school drills or any situation with the school is another aspect of the job of an SRO, from lockdowns to fires in the school. Gregoire needs to be prepared to react to any situation and protect the students of MHS. 

“That’s why we do these drills over and over again,” Gregoire said. “It might seem silly that we do them all the time. But you know what you’re going to do every single time this drill happens. This will become second nature, just like what we’re doing at training. And we do the same training over and over again.”

Protecting MHS comes before anything else for Gregoire. The students of MHS are the number one reason she helps everyday in any way she possibly can.

“When I talk about the school, I talk about my kids, because I consider everybody here as part of my family,” Gregoire said. “To think anybody coming in here and hurting anybody that would break my heart.”