Students at Booth Middle School will soon get the chance to take their turns as boys, and girls, in blue.

The Peachtree City school, already the first middle school in Fayette County with a full-time school resource officer, is now the second middle school in the state to offer a junior police academy, starting Feb. 22.

The 10-week program will consist of 90-minute sessions every Tuesday after school.

The city of Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County already offers such a program, with a single officer going around to every middle school much like a DARE officer would at the elementary school level.

Cpl. Heather Horne, the Booth resource officer, got the idea when she received some information in the mail from a company that produces a national curriculum for just such a program.

After getting some input from officers in Lawrenceville, she got the go-ahead from her own department and began organizing the program.

Applications are still coming in, but she is hoping for about 35 students when the first day rolls around. “if not this time, we'll get that many next time,” she said.

Her plan is to try for three sessions per year, with a long-range goal of eventually having some type of class she can teach during school hours.

The classroom exposure is not a problem for Horne, who earned a degree in education and taught school for a year in Coweta County before becoming a police officer. She is also a mother of three.

Her roots are in Peachtree City, as she was a student at Booth before graduating from McIntosh High School.

“I always wanted to teach and be around kids,” she said. “My ultimate goal has been to do something like this. It's the best career move I've ever made.”

As resource officer, she has been involved in a lot of programs at Booth, so this newest venture will start slow while she sees what things work and what things do not.

Students who participate in the junior police academy will get to write traffic tickets, operate radar guns and other activities they see police officers do in real life and on television.

The program in its current form is purely extracurricular, with no academic credit given and no homework required. “It's mostly fun stuff,” said Horne.

The entire program will be conducted on the Booth campus.

Students who sign up — there is a $25 fee — will receive a free T-shirt with a special logo made for the class.

state program for school resource officers - somewhat easier for her because of teaching experience

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