School honors local officer as ‘hero’

Published: April 19, 2007 | 6035th good news item since 2003

On March 29, the first grade Gifted and Talented students at Salazar Elementary got the opportunity to meet a real hero up close and personal.

Officer Ira Herrero, with the Corpus Christi Police Department, was invited to Salazar so that students could learn about his job and to honor him as a hometown hero, said Norma Longoria, a teacher with the gifted and talented program at Salazar Elementary. In their in depth study of Heroes in G.T. class, the students learned the characteristics of being a true hero.

“Heroes display characteristics of being responsible, loyal, brave, helpful, caring, solving problems, risk takers, and being great thinkers,” Longoria said.

After learning all about police officers and their duties to the community the students realized policemen display all the hero characteristics, Longoria said.

Indira Herrero, a student in Longoria’s class, had informed her classmates that her dad, Herrero, was a police officer for C.C.P.D. That’s when the class decided that he needed to make an appearance at Salazar, Longoria said. When Herrero, who is also a resident of Robstown, came on campus the students read special essays that they had written just for him. They also created banners and presented them to him as well as singing a song for him, Longoria said.

Herrero explained his job as a canine officer and a member of the S.W.A.T. Team for C.C.P.D. He explained how he was chosen out of 300 officers for the 15 man S.W.A.T. Team.

As a canine officer, Herrero handles his German Shephard dog, Raven, who is also part of his family, Longoria said. Herrero demonstrated how Raven is able to sniff out drugs and how he is rewarded after a successful seizure. He also showed the students some of his gear as a SWAT member.

Published in Community
See also: www.zwire.com