First Responders Month: Jackson school resource officer provides more than security

At Jackson Middle School, Tim Lester is the go-to guy for 3D printing. He also helps out with the school's robotics club, teaches students how to change the oil in a vehicle and even jumps in to fix flat tires for parents dropping off or picking up their children.

Lester isn't a science teacher, a custodian or mechanic in the motor pool. He's the school resource officer responsible for keeping the school safe and secure.

Nobody asked him to take on these extra tasks, none of which are in an SRO's job description, Lester just saw needs and stepped up.

Lester is in his seventh year as an SRO at Jackson Middle School after working two years as a patrolman with Jackson Police Department. He decided to apply for the SRO position because he needed a more regular schedule.

"My wife and I had twins on the way," Lester said. "And it was like, 'Oh, goodness, how do I do this?'"

Tim Lester, school resource officer at Jackson Middle School, holds a flexible dinosaur and lizard that he created using the school's 3D printers. Some of his creations helped raise funds to help the school's Robotics Club attend a national competition.Danny Walter

Tim Lester, school resource officer at Jackson Middle School, holds a flexible dinosaur and lizard that he created using the school's 3D printers. Some of his creations helped raise funds to help the school's Robotics Club attend a national competition.Danny Walter

It wasn't just an SRO's schedule that was appealing to Lester. As a patrol officer, Lester said he would often stop and take advantage of opportunities to engage with children.

"I was one of those guys that, if I saw kids outside playing basketball and I didn't have anything to do, I would stop and join the game, just to build relationships," Lester said.

The same week Lester began Law Enforcement Academy training at Southeast Missouri State University, a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Lester said he sensed an "atmosphere of law enforcement being bad," and now he uses every opportunity as an SRO to change that perception.

When he was a child, Lester said his mother suffered domestic abuse from his father who also "basically told me to not like cops". Later, his mother remarried, and Lester said his stepfather, an emergency room doctor, taught him to be respectful of police officers.

"We had someone break into our house when I was in middle school," Lester said. "That cop came over and cleared the house. He was that safety net for me, and I've always just respected police ever since."

In high school, Lester said he was known as "Big Tim" because he always stepped in to protect others if they were being bullied. After high school, Lester became an infantryman in the Army National Guard.

"After I got out, I said, 'OK, what can I do? I know how to shoot and live in the woods. That's what they trained me to do.' So, police officer just seemed like a natural place to go," Lester said.

His stepfather loaned him the money so he could attend the Law Enforcement Academy, and Lester said he also earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice through SEMO, after which he was hired on at Jackson Police Department.

Lester said he started using the school's 3D printers as conversation starters for students who were frustrated or upset over something. He makes what he calls "flexible" dinosaurs and lizards.

"I designed one for each month of the school year," Lester said. "The dinosaur for Valentine's Day is holding a heart, the Christmas one has a Santa hat, and for graduation I print graduation caps on them."

His latest 3D creation is a flexible skeletal lizard that the school sells. Lester said some of the money goes to support the Future Business Leaders of America club that sells the lizards. The rest goes to support his other passion, the Robotics Club.

He said he saw the students in the library after school one day and wandered in to see what they were up to, and he got hooked. Lester is an adviser to the club and has helped with fundraising and travels with them when the students go to competitions.

"Last year we took the middle school and junior high teams to regionals in St. Louis," Lester said. "We scored first place at regionals, which got us to state, where we won second place."

Lester said that was good enough to qualify the team for the national competition in Boston. He said they raised money to pay for the trip with a pancake breakfast, and Lester also sold items he made with the 3D printers, such as lamps and nightlights. The team won first place in Robot Design.

Lester said being an SRO is where he belongs because he likes helping people and it's also fun to watch the students grow up and see who they become. He said his fellow officers want what he has.

"Every police officer wants to be SRO," Lester said. "It's the best gig, and I'm not joking. They ask me when there will be another opening and I say, 'I don't know, bud. It's not up to me. I'm not leaving anytime soon.'"