‘Blue Fridays’ are a hit at Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Westwego

The shepherd’s pie was tantalizing, but food wasn’t on the mind of Westwego Police Lt. Danny Johnson 
when he popped into Our Lady of Prompt Succor School’s cafeteria Sept. 23 to spend his lunch break with students.

Johnson was there for “Thank God for Our Police Officers Fridays” – an open invitation from the school to local law enforcement, firefighters and EMS to socialize and eat with students each and every Friday.

“The food is great, but I usually don’t eat because I want to use the time to interact with the kids,” said Johnson, noting that students’ topics of conversation range from their grades and homework to the latest in sports and TV.

“Just last week it was Pokémon, but all of a sudden, that’s died down – now it’s all about the cartoons they’re watching,” said Johnson, noting that he often is mistaken for a school parent because of all the hugs he gives out in the cafeteria.

“It’s all about law enforcement and children coming together and them understanding we’re not bad guys; we’re all good guys,” said Johnson of the informal Friday get-togethers. “We’re all on the same mission.”

The program, which debuted this school year, was hatched by Carl Dermady, OLPS’ assistant principal, who was looking for ways to give police officers and young people opportunities to cultivate friendships in the wake of rising racial tensions between law enforcement and local communities nationwide.

“To have a civil society, we have to have respect for institutions; and the people who work in institutions have to have respect for the public,” Dermady said. “We’re trying to bridge that divide. This distrust is not good for our democracy.

“We just felt it was important for our young students – especially our minority students – to have a very positive feeling about the police and vice versa,” he added. Thanks to staggered lunch periods that have students flowing in and out of the cafeteria between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., the special Friday guests have a big window of time in which to come and go as their own schedules permit. Although they process through the lunch line just as students do, they receive their Friday meals at no charge, Dermady said.

Sometimes the interaction stretches into the play yard, where the law enforcement officers toss around balls and show the children their special vehicles and equipment.

“I have learned to be safe, always look around and never steal,” said second grader Gabriella Sterling. “The firemen are very interesting. The surprising thing that I have learned (is that) I never knew that firemen actually had fire alarms in their house,” Gabriella added.

“You get to meet all the policemen and all the firefighters and just hang out with them and eat with them and sit next to them,” noted second
grader William Fowler. “There’s a big crowd at lunch in the cafeteria on Friday.”

During the Friday lunches, Westwego Policewoman Barbara Vittitoe is often identified as the officer at school drop-off time who checks to see if car drivers and passengers are wearing their seatbelts. She uses the lunch sessions to explain to youngsters that traffic tickets are issued for a good reason – to keep everyone safe. Vittitoe has also taught students about the importance of staying in contact with police headquarters; the difference between a gun and a taser; and practical tips, such as how one should never approach a police officer from behind.

“We get a lot of the children asking us: ‘Are you the good police or are you the bad police?’” Vittitoe said. “We tell them that we’re all ‘good police,’ and you need to trust us.”

OLPS’ new principal, Salesian Sister Anna Bui, said she is “very proud” of the win-win program.

“They are our heroes, and we need to recognize their efforts, their love and the way they give their lives for the people here in Westwego,” Sister Anna said. “We want to let them know that we appreciate their work. We appreciate their presence.”

OLPS fifth-grade teacher Kathryn Israel has already seen positive results from the Friday visits. At the beginning of school, one of her students confided to her that he thought police officers were “mean.”

“He was scared of them,” Israel said. “Then one day after lunch, one of the policemen who was sitting with us gave this kid a piggyback ride all the way up to the third floor. I asked (the student) if he had the same opinion. He said, ‘No, that policeman was very nice.’”