Thursday, September 26, 2024
Since Gatesville Independent School District established the Friends on Duty program in 2022, local retired veteran and volunteer Adam Fitzer makes it his goal to ensure the safety of students.
“Everything has changed, and when this program started, I saw immediately what the intent was and it was kind of a knee jerk reaction,” Fitzer said. “When we first showed up, it wasn’t what it is now.”
He explained that in the past volunteers were told to check the doors, and, if something happens, to run away and go home. By the end of the first year, Fitzer said that there were five volunteers total, which comprised of four military veterans and one law enforcement veteran. Since having the background of saving lives in the past, the volunteers and, especially, Fitzer, didn’t look at it that way, and neither did Gatesville ISD Police Chief Gary Stiles.
“Chief Stiles works with us a lot,” Fitzer said. “Him and Sergeant White started morphing the program, and we are very proactive in a lot of areas.”
Currently, Friends on Duty has nine volunteers total with four retired veterans.
“For a lot of us, this is nothing new; everything I learned in the infantry, oddly enough, completely applies at a high school,” Fitzer said. “All the training we got makes this job easy. We have the ability to do things with the knowledge to back it up.”
“Everybody that we have is either learning or already knows a lot,” he said.
The program recently welcomed a local pastor to the volunteer group as well as a couple of firefighters from the area.
Fitzer explained that there are different responsibilities for the Friends on Duty volunteers depending on which school they are assigned to.
“Part of what I do is go outside and check the grounds, patrol up and down hallways to check the doors, help out where staff needs it, and if an emergency comes up, I will jump in and help,” he said.
If an emergency situation occurs, the Friends on Duty volunteers will work with the officers on campus to help maintain control in order to get everything resolved quickly.
“This isn’t a lone wolf type thing; we have officers that we work with, and, if they need anything of us, then we do it,” he said. “Officer White and I are essentially partners, and we always work together; I know what his expectations are, and he knows what I am willing to do with no issues, and that is how it needs to be.”
“If we are able to help keep that control and keep it to where everyone can have a nice and relaxing day and not worry constantly about someone with a knife, a gun, or drugs, then the program has succeeded, and it helped the officers accomplish what they are there to do,” he said.
“Security is a big thing and so is medical assistance, so we started recognizing the needs and issues and began using our pull in our community as veterans to gather materials and to help the school system,” he said. The American Legion Post 42 contributed to the program by donating much-needed medical supplies.
He expressed that Gatesville ISD has begun changing things and developed a program where there are certain requirements to make it more of an asset for the school system. The Friends on Duty program is currently working on getting donations to put volunteers through Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) training, which is a state certified 40-hour course.
“This would help dramatically,” he said. “There are still a lot of things that we are working on just to make it better. Our biggest thing is numbers, and we probably need around 10 to 15 more volunteers.”
He explained that the program does not have enough people to cover each school, and their goal is to have somebody there all day, every day.
“That way we know the officers are backed up and that they’ve got competent people there with them,” he said. “We mostly look for veterans or first responders, just because of the knowledge and the skill set.”
He expressed that being a Friends on Duty volunteer comes with a lot of work that doesn’t really go noticed.
“We free up the officers a lot, and they don’t have to do a lot because we are there doing it for them, which lets them get bigger tasks done,” he said.
“We have looked into other programs out there, and there is not one like ours,” he said. “There are people that say it won’t happen here, it’s never happened here, and it never will. The school is a pretty good place and what this program does is help keep it that way.”
“I completely think that this program needs to stay, and it needs to continue because times have changed,” he said. “With the changing in times, school districts need to have something to help keep the kids safer, and we are doing that right now and I think we are doing a pretty good job.”
"The Friends on Duty program has become a very valuable resource to GISD. If it were not for the leadership of Adam Fitzer, I believe the group would have disbanded very quickly,” Gatesville ISD Superintendent Barrett Pollard said. “One example of how valuable the FOD’s are pertains to the small fire we had in the high school welding shop a few weeks ago. Our security camera footage shows Adam Fitzer very calmly arriving on scene and putting the fire out with a fire extinguisher. It's that type of composure in emergency situations that makes them so valuable."
To become a Friend on Duty, you will need to pass a state background check and complete an interview process with Gatesville ISD administration and Friends on Duty officials. Forms are to be picked up at the Gatesville ISD Administration Office, located at 311 South Lovers Lane.
