Members of the George Mason University (GMU) basketball team shared center court on Saturday with police officers and their teen-age guests, who were there on a mentoring program called "Patriots and Police."
West Springfield crime prevention officer Rex Pagerie is among the 10 Fairfax County Police officers who take part in the program. He looked at the potential when officers forge friendly relations with the teens from the lower-income parts of the county in a college setting such as George Mason.
"The whole idea is to give them the influence of a college," he said.
George Mason athletic director Tom O'Conner looked at the college environment and the athletes themselves as role models, too. Integrity was something he thought was a building block for the teens.
"I think it's great exposure for a kid," O'Conner said. "It should give them a goal, education comes first. Everything starts with integrity, we play upon that."
Peggy Smith, a GMU cheerleader, hoped the school spirit rubbed off on the teens.
"School spirit is definitely a good influence," she said.
GMU played Drexel University from the Philadelphia area on the afternoon of Jan. 4 at the Patriot Center. The 10 Fairfax County officers joined GMU staff, staff members from Fairfax County Department of Community and Recreation Services and 30 teen-agers for the game. At the door, each teen-ager was given a trading card with the officers and a GMU athlete or staff member.
Chris Scales, the program manager from the county's teen centers, chaired the program with fellow county employees Christina Schmitt and Chandra Spellman. Schmitt was from the "Chill Spot" teen center in the Providence District, and Spellman is the director of the "Net" Teen Center in Springfield. The teen-agers were from all over the county.
"This gives kids the opportunity to meet other kids from other areas," Spellman said.
Schmitt knows the program helps and has seen the results in at least one teen-ager.
"I have one student attending Virginia Tech right now because of their exposure [to this]," she said.
It was a first-time mentoring experience for Animal Control Officer Pauline Rathbone. She grew up in Fairfax County.
"I thought it was a good idea for the kids to see positive influences," she said.
PAGERIE TOOK OVER the crime-prevention program at the West Springfield District Station with Officer Jayne Woolf after Officer Ed O'Carroll was transferred to the Franconia District Station. Several youth-mentoring programs the officers have been involved with include "Kids to Camp" program in the summer, scouting activities, and a boat-building exercise in Alexandria. Last summer, Pagerie saw the results of the officers mentoring with one teen at camp, who arrived with an attitude.
"There was this kid," Pagerie said. "He was a mess. He was almost uncontrollable. We became his friend instead of disciplining. By the end of the week, he was a completely different kid."
It helped Pagerie, as well.
"That's why I took this job, you want to do good things," he said.
Pagerie's fiancee, Valerie Pellegrino, is a reading specialist in Loudoun County schools. She sees children at school who would benefit from these programs.
"I think it's important that they know policemen are their friend," Pellegrino said. "They do more than just catch bad guys."
The program is funded in part by George Mason University, which contributes the tickets to the game, and the Fairfax County Department of Recreation, which provides the transportation. Pagerie noted that the police are working toward using one of their buses in the future.