Proctor Journal

The Proctor High School DECA Club has once again taken on a challenging public relations project, involving the safety of all Minnesotans. Seniors Stacy Smith, Krista Parrent, and Nick Podgornik are educating students and teachers about CriMNet. CriMNet is an innovative crime fighting tool that is the first of its kind in the nation.

The trio has developed a form letter expressing support for continued development and funding of CriMNet. Each group is challenged to take a letter and get signatures. Those letters will be taken to the Minnesota Capitol and presented to lawmakers on Mon., Feb. 10. at 1 p.m. They will also be hosting a rally in support of CriMNet in the rotunda of the Capitol.

Proctor?s DECA Club has become well known for taking on the challenge of advancing issues of public safety. First, there was the snowmobile safety project known as ?COCO?. Then students took on the issue of school safety following the tragedy at Columbine High School (Colorado).

They followed that up by addressing the issue of teen suicide prevention, which culminated last summer in the structuring of the suicide memorial located near the golf course.

Last fall, Smith, Parrent, and Podgornik met with officials from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for a demonstration of ?CriMNet?. CriMNet staff members explained the capabilities of this system and outlined its long term vision and goals.

Phil Berkheimer, Journal sports writer and member of the Katie Poirier Abduction Task Force, met with the trio to explain the need for students to get involved with promoting the need for such a system. He stressed that CriMNet is a very dollar intense project with a sizable price tag and that there is a need for future voters and taxpayers (students) to show and express their support for the funding of this much needed tool.

?The price tag may be steep on the surface,? commented Berkheimer, ?but, you ask the parents of Katie Poirier, Cally Jo Larson, Julie Holmquist, Jacob Wetterling, Paul Antonich, and all the other victims of violent crime if the price tag for CriMNet is too high? ?

To date, the trio have made presentations to several classes at Proctor High School. They have also gone out to Hermantown, Carlton and Cloquet High Schools armed with this message and form letter petitions for students to sign.

At Hermantown, they made their presentations in Jim Schwarzbauer?s classes. The teacher and Proctor School Board member had nothing but praise for the DECA students and their presentation. Students who heard the Proctor DECA presentation, signed a petition and expressed interest in attending the upcoming rally at the Capitol. More than 100 petitions were signed at Hermantown.

Carlton High School teacher Deb Coy commented after Smith and Parrent made their presentations that, ?The two young ladies were very professional in their presentation. They clearly explained what CriMNet is, how CriMNet will work, why CriMNet is needed, and why my students need to show their support for this program.? She said Smith and Parrent made a big impact on the students.

Before the presentations were through, every student signed a letter and one entire class showed interest in attending the rally at the Capitol.

Coy added, ?I wish I could let these students go to the rally, but our school just doesn?t have the money for any sort of trips like that.?

Smith, Parrent, and Podgornik are planning to take their message to Esko, Duluth Central, Barnum and Moose Lake. They plan to make presentations at UMD and at the main U of M and are seeking metro area schools to speak to while in the Twin Cities for the Feb. 10 rally. Schools from around the State are being invited to attend the rally, and personalized letters are being sent to every State Representative and State Senator, the Governor and all his Cabinet members, and Senators Mark Dayton and Norm Coleman.

They plan to take their message of ?public safety through CriMNet? far and wide through use of newspapers, live radio, and TV. Dusty Letica and Azahar Aguilar have been helping out with the project.

Parrent reported, ?This (CriMNet project) is really important to me, because when I hear about things like this (sexual violence, abductions, and other violent crimes) I get really scared.?

All three students agreed just about everyone knows of someone who has been a victim of a serious crime. That is a scary thought here in the northland, away from the big cities. ?We asked all the students if they feel safe when they are walking around. Almost everyone said they felt okay during the day, but not after dark.?

Parrent reported, ?We want to impact more than just adults with this message. We want to reach teenagers and make them aware of CriMNet and why they need to support this legislation.?

Through this effort Proctor DECA is once again taking a major step in making Minnesota a safer place to live, work, attend school, and play.

Berkheimer, who continues at his own expense to make regular trips to the Capitol to be a voice for victims and victims? families, says, ?I?m so proud of these kids seeing what they?re doing. They may never know who they impact, but their efforts are going to help save a life and keep another young person safe from dangerous criminals. Seeing these kids work so hard at this CriMNet project gives me a renewed and reinspired drive when I?m at the Capitol working for a safer Minnesota,? concluded Berkheimer.

DECA is an association of Marketing Students learning through hands-on projects like school safety issues, CriMNet, COCO, and Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention. The Proctor DECA has become one of the most talked about success stories in recent years at Proctor High School, and in regional and statewide DECA circles.