Every day, students at Hardin Valley go through their normal routines, rarely giving a thought to how safe they are or what it takes to keep them safe. Every now and then, a small fight will break out, but for the most part, nothing really shocking happens at the school. This is because HVA has the privilege of being under the protection of many informed teachers and three very capable officers looking out for students.

   For anyone visiting the school, he or she must first have their driver’s license checked by a scanning machine for anything out of the ordinary in the records, and while there has only ever been one “hit” with the machine, it stands as a safeguard to the students. Officer Puckett is one of the resident School Resource Officers (SRO) at HVA, and gave his outlook on the school’s safety.

   First of all, he believes that many people in our school take for granted the importance of staying inside the building and closing school doors. He advises students to avoid going out to their cars during the day and that they should always be alert.

   Students and teachers are asked to watch out for faces, people or things that look out of place. Puckett’s motto is, “If you see [or hear] something, say something,” and he and the other SRO (Officer Odom and Officer Hibbert) have email addresses on Hardin Valley Academy’s website, ready and waiting for students to contact them in case anything remotely suspicious occurs.

   With recent alarming events at places such as the Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) where kids have nearly been “taken,” it stands to reason that safety is something to be serious about. As the year continues, HVA’s hawks can expect to come to school and be free to learn in a safe environment. Students and teachers can do their part by being observant and cooperative and helping the security staff to make sure that our expectations are a reality.