Page 51 - June2021

7th District officers and CPD Mounted Unit surprise students with horses
Youth Officer Cortez Cox of the 7th District is always looking for a way to make children’s days brighter. He visits the Academy of St. Benedict the African whenever Principal Patricia Murphy and Assistant Principal Jennifer Farrand extend an invitation to their events.
“The teachers and students are just so welcoming and invit- ing,” Cox mentioned. “So I was like, ‘I need to do something to show our appreciation to them.’”
Cox wanted to show the kindergarten to eighth grade stu- dents something different. Something new. So he teamed up with Sergeant Enrico Dixon and contacted the Chicago Police Department Mounted Unit to set up a surprise at the academy.
“Some of the kids have never seen horses in real life,” Cox noted. “Only on television and at the zoo. With the Mounted Unit, they can take pictures and rub the horses.”
Cox, Dixon and the Mounted Unit arrived at the Academy of St. Benedict on May 14. Class after class, the students put on
their jackets and headed outside, where they gasped at the view before them.
“It was amazing,” Cox remarked. “And they were so happy. Both the students and the teachers. And I’m like, for a horse? But for them to see the horse in real life, and see how big and strong they are, it was so exciting to everybody.”
A helicopter unit even flew by, wrapping up the experience. The students were so appreciative that they sent the officers let- ters with drawings of the horses. They are all hanging on a board in the 7th District community room.
The officer believes that the positive interaction with the stu- dents was rewarding enough.
“If I have the opportunity to connect and build the gap be- tween the community and officers, I will do that,” Cox said. “To see them smile and see the police and youth working together. That’s what I want to do.”
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