Erwin Grad Now Reynolds SRO

Dep. Jared Porshia high fives students in the hallway, participates in a balloon launch, and poses at his desk.

By Tim Reaves
BCS Communications Department

Dep. Jared Porshia is a police officer, a teacher, and a counselor.

The A.C. Reynolds Middle School student resource officer (SRO) spends much of his time away from his office – walking the halls, giving high fives, and encouraging students to be their best.

“Kids come to me for advice,” he said. “It can be issues with classmates, schoolwork, anything really. I just help them get through it.”

He teaches subjects like online safety and healthy relationships. In one instance, a teacher asked him to talk about basic court procedures to help her class better understand Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“When I was younger I never expected to be standing up teaching in front of an English class,” he said.

Porshia graduated from Clyde A. Erwin High School in 2010. Erwin’s SRO was something of an inspiration to him.

“She just looked like she had a really cool job, and I thought ‘I’d like to do that,’” he said.

After high school, Porshia earned associate’s degrees from A-B Tech, then attended Western Carolina University, completed Basic Law Enforcement Training, and joined the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. He took the SRO position at Reynolds Middle in January and said he’s had an amazing learning experience.

“You learn to stick with a kid from start to finish,” he said. “You look at the totality of their circumstances and see if there’s anything lacking that you can put into that picture, like a puzzle piece. That’s part of what it means to be a resource for them.”

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SROs like Porshia help BCS attain our board-defined purpose: To provide safe and engaging learning environments that prepare students for their tomorrow.

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