AKRON – Thanks to a donation by Teachers Credit Union, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. is bringing a program to the area to help prevent child abuse.
Karen Mayer, TCU service center manager, said last year she approached Tippecanoe Valley High School Principal Kirk Doehrmann and told him TCU is here to help educators in the community.
“We’re very passionate about our schools,” Mayer said Thursday. “Kirk came back and said he had an idea, and it sounded like something we wanted to help sponsor.”
On Jan. 17, with the $1,500 donation from TCU, Valley is bringing The Body Safety Program and Sgt. Terry Hall, program coordinator for Child Molest Prevention, to the community.
Doehrmann said Hall will give his presentations Jan. 17 at each of Valley’s school buildings, a presentation to teachers after school and then a presentation to the public from 7 to 8 p.m. in the TVHS gym.
“We’re trying to make sure our kids are safe,” said Doehrmann. “He gives age-appropriate presentations, and talks about ‘good touch, bad touch’ and where to go for help.”
According to information provided by Doehrmann, The Body Safety Program books a year in advance and has been around since 1983. The program is designed “to empower children without scaring them. It has been approved by hundreds of school systems.”
During the program, Hall addresses the signals and myths of abuse. Teachers and parents learn how to handle an incident of abuse. Children should not attend the adult program.
Hall, according to information provided, is a 38-year veteran of the Indianapolis Police Department who has worked the administrative, operations and investigative areas of law enforcement during his career.
Hall spent seven years in the IPD Sex Offense Branch, and was the former director of the “Good Touch Bad Touch Program” for prevention of child abuse and neglect. Hall has attended training at the FBI Academy, and is a certified law enforcement instructor for Indiana.
He was named IPD Officer of the Year and also was chosen IPD Investigative Officer of the Year for having the highest arrest and conviction rate for five consecutive years. He also received the local and state Social Services Award for his work with children.
In the last 20 years, he has trained more than 40,000 prosecutors, judges and law enforcement officers at the local, state and federal levels in regards to children’s issues. He has been involved with training for universities, law enforcement academies, national judicial conferences, department in-service training and recently was requested to instruct the Department of Human Services employees. He has trained military investigators out of the country.
