Peru Mayor Ken Kolowski contacted officials at Northview Elementary School and asked educators if they thought students would be interested in writing letters of appreciation to police.
“They said ‘absolutely,’ ” Kolowski said. “They jumped all over it to help celebrate National Police Week.”
National Police Week is nationally celebrated and recognizes the men and women that serve on police departments for their service. The week-long recognition was signed into law in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and is celebrated on the calendar week that includes May 15.
Police and city officials met one student representative Monday from each class and were presented hand written notes and drawings to share with their colleagues.
The students presented various thank you notes, colorings and even personalized notes to family members that serve in law enforcement.
Northview Elementary Principal Sarah McDonald mentioned all classrooms, from preschool to fourth grade, were helpful in putting the event together to thank the officers.
“It’s so important to make sure that the police know how thankful we are to have them here,” McDonald said. “I reached out to all my teachers and all my teachers were so kind in making sure the kids wrote notes and drew pictures.”
Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei said officers appreciated the thank you cards from the students.
“It’s a very special week and it’s especially rewarding when you have things like this because one of our No. 1 goals is to have good community-police relations that we’ve always felt like we’ve had,” Bernabei said.
In the last few years, Peru police officers have made themselves familiar with students by participating in kickball games and school walkthroughs during the week.
Bernabei also mentioned events, such as Monday’s, are positive and lift the spirits of both the children and the officers.
“There’s nothing better than an awesome police force and Peru police officers are wonderful,” McDonald said.