Behind the Badge
Two-dozen kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove stayed after school at Post Elementary the other day to decorate holiday cards and cookies for some local celebrities.
“I believe you are awsom,” read one card that was covered in glue and silvers sparkles. “Sorry if I speld something wrong.”
Sorry?
Garden Grove PD Sgt. John Reynolds couldn’t be more delighted. It’s not every day that a police officer shows up to cheers and high-fives and requests for an autograph.
“It’s overwhelming, to be honest,” he said. “To see this kind of warmth extended by these young people.”
Hellen Nguyen, 10, decorates cookies for the Garden Grove PD, part of a Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove project at Post Elementary School on Dec. 9.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
The event was part of the Boys & Girls Club of America’s 12 Days of Giving, a nationwide service-project campaign that kicked off Dec. 1.
Kids in the club’s Post Elementary unit chose to dedicate one of their 12 Days of Giving to the Garden Grove Police Department, said Tricia Mathis, director of marketing for Boys & Girls Club Garden Grove.
Even though the school is in the city of Westminster, the GGPD patrols it. Reynolds and five other GGPD school resource officers attended.
“I’m making this for the police because they’ve been protecting our city,” fourth grader A’aliyah Valencia explained while working on a cookie at a picnic table on the playground.
“They do everything,” added 9-year-old Marilyn Garcia. “They rescue cats and dogs. And people.”
Reynolds arrived blowing chewing gum bubbles. He and five other officers shook hands and signed autographs.
Jasmin McCaa, 10, left, Heidi Jimenez, 11, May Tran, 11 and Vy Nguyen, 10, of Post Elementary School, work on cards and decorations for a poster for the Garden Grove PD.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
“In my heart, it makes me so happy to see everyone here,” he told the kids.
The kids presented the officers with platters of heavily decorated sugar cookies in the shape of stars and Christmas trees and cards of appreciation.
“Thank you police men and women,” read one card.
Asked how many of them wanted to be police officers when they grew up, 13 of the 20 of the students raised their hands.
Beyond the obvious plus of scoring some cookies, Reynolds said he was grateful for the opportunity to score some time with the kids.
“It’s a chance for us to come and have that human experience with them so they can see we’re real and let them know that were all in this together,” he said. “Especially considering the recent tragedies.”
Adrian Eina, 8, adds a few sprinkles to cookies kids from Post Elementary School decorated for the Garden Grove PD.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
The cookies each were uniquely decorated by kids from Post Elementary School for the Garden Grove PD, part of a Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove project.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Nine-year-old Kaylynn Nguyen of Post Elementary School helps decorate cookies for the Garden Grove PD.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Kids from Post Elementary School and the Boys & Girls Club of Garden Grove pose with Garden Grove PD officers during a Dec. 9 visit to the school. The school is in Westminster but is part of the Garden Grove Unified School District.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Kids from Post Elementary School, part of the Garden Grove Unified School District, present decorated Christmas cookies to officers from the Garden Grove PD. The visiting officers included Sgt. John Reynolds, left, and officers Andy Flaws, Robert Kivler and Jason Fulton.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Hellen Nguyen, left, and Vivian Le, both 10, apply lots of glitter, and glue, to part of a decoration (not a cookie) for the Garden Grove PD.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Kimberly Nguyen, 9, of Post Elementary School, asks for the autograph of Garden Grove PD Officer Jason Fulton.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Nine-year-old Aaliyah Valencia of Post Elementary School, presents Garden Grove Officer Andy Flaws, left, and Sgt. John Reynolds with Merry Christmas cards made of glitter during a visit by the officers.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
