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Opinion

Queen Creek community should recognize kids’ achievements

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I enjoyed reading the article on “Police release fall break data on juvenile activity” by Janet Perez in your January 2025 issue, Page 30. Too many times, police are only recognized in a negative fashion. That speaks volumes about our media, so it is a breath of fresh air to hear something positive about our Queen Creek Police Department because the first people I call when I need help are the police.

I have the utmost respect for police officers and my son works in a similar capacity with our U.S. government. So, I want to thank our Queen Creek Police for all the little things they do that go unnoticed, such as when I was at a car wash on Ellsworth Road a few weeks ago and an elderly man locked his keys in his SUV and had to call the Queen Creek Police. This incident/patrolman went unrecognized unless this elderly man wrote a letter of thanks to Police Chief Randy Brice of the Queen Creek Police Department.

Here are my thoughts on juveniles and this is from an educator with 42 years’ experience who also worked with the “Cleveland Gang Unit” for one year and volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club of America in the Tremont area of Cleveland, Ohio, for 11 years.

Children want attention, good or bad. Let’s face it, many juveniles are being raised in group homes, by grandparents, gangs or single parents. So, it does take a village to raise a child. Our job as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, etc. is to guide and encourage children in a positive direction whenever we have a chance. So, thank you to the Queen Creek Police officers who hung out with teens during LINK at the Annex of Queen Creek. The greatest accomplishment we can do is help others less fortunate and a big thank you to the Queen Creek police officers for setting an example for the rest of us.

Our Queen Creek Sports Youth 11- and 12-year-old coed soccer team (The Panthers) won the city championship in Queen Creek and earned the right to represent our town in the Mesa Open Tournament on Dec. 14, where 28 teams competed for the Gold Tournament Trophy at Mesquite Junior High School in Mesa.

Our Queen Creek Panthers (No. 1 seed) defeated the Mesa Vipers (No. 2 seed) by a score of 1-0 in the championship game to remain undefeated for the entire season. During the regular season the Queen Creek Panthers scored 30 goals while being scored upon once.

What is most important is that these are great kids who are all honor roll students at their respective schools. Tycen Abel recently lost his dad to cancer at the age of 37. The parents and community of Queen Creek have rallied around this family as best they could. So, it would be an honor and another great day for him if you would print his team “Championship” pic in your paper.

I have written five television channels and our mayor (who I think is amazing), and all our children got back was a “congratulations!”  No “public” mention of their achievement, and we wonder why some juveniles go astray?

It is unfortunate that 13 honor roll students achieve an amazing feat and not many people here in Queen Creek know about it. The media publishes sensational news such as the 15-year-old girl who opened fire in a Wisconsin school classroom on Monday, Dec. 17, fatally shooting a fellow student and a teacher and wounding six other people before killing herself with the handgun. I guess 13 honor roll students achieving something sensational in sports isn’t worthy of being published. So, I give your newspaper a “thumbs up” for recognizing our Queen Creek Police in a positive manner because they protect us daily. God bless them.

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queen creek, kids, achievements

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