Officer “Tom” Cole Leaving Fenton High School
PHOTO Lily Turkowski
May 9, 2023
Officer Tom Cole has been a Student Resource Officer (SRO) in the Fenton School District for the past five years. However, this year will be his last as he retires from FHS. Cole became the FHS SRO shortly after he was approached by the Chief of Police at the time, Jason Slater.
“[Slater] approached me while I was an SRO for Mount Pleasant High School,” Cole said. “He asked me if I would do it and I said, ‘Of course.’”
During Cole’s time at Fenton, he provided classes such as self defense while also spreading kindness throughout the halls at Fenton High in the form of notes.
“A couple years ago during COVID, I could see the stress and anxiety everything was bringing to the students so I started sitting at the entrance writing pick-me-up notes to all the students walking by,” Cole said.
This began to occur every Thursday and soon became known as Positivity Thursday.
“I just had to do something to put the smiles back on your faces,” Cole said.
Although Cole is parting ways from the Fenton School District, he will still be an active officer in the Fenton Police Department working as a full time detective. Two additional officers will be spending their time at Fenton Schools when Cole parts ways. One officer will be assigned to FHS while the other officer will be assigned to Andrew G. Schmidt Middle School.
“My favorite thing about being at the schools here in Fenton are the kids,” Cole said. “They bring so much joy to me that it almost tears me up thinking about leaving now.”
Cole will make his final departure from Fenton schools on June 2, 2023. He hopes that once he leaves, kindness will continue to be spread throughout the halls of Fenton schools.
“The advice I would give to my kids at Fenton is to be kind,” Cole said. “I was a kid that was bullied through school. I know personally how it affects you as you grow up.”
Cole believes that being kind to each other could not only fix problems within the school, but it could also solve problems nationwide. He hopes that his words, ‘Be kind to one another’ will be the legacy he leaves behind at all Fenton schools.
