The East Valley School District enthusiastically welcomes, Deputy Jake Church as the District School Resource Officer (SRO). Deputy Church joins the East Valley team as a commissioned officer of the Yakima Sheriff’s department and will be based out of East Valley High School for the 2017-2018 school year. The primary mission of the SRO role is to provide added security for our schools and to, “foster a positive image of deputies and police officers among young people.” The SRO will also, “provide law enforcement services at dances, athletic contests and other public events as needed,” and provide security education for both students and staff.

Deputy Church is the perfect fit for this SRO position with over 17 years of experience in law enforcement and several years of classroom instruction as a teacher. During Church’s career in law enforcement he spent sixteen years working in Toppenish as the Explorers Post Advisor Sergeant where he was a role model for students ages 14-21. As part of the Explorers program, Deputy Church worked with youth teaching them everything from how to build a resume to physical agility training and mock-up police scenes.

In addition to his exemplary service in law enforcement, Deputy Church has also served students as a dedicated educator. Deputy Church taught Agricultural Science classes at Sunnyside High School for three years prior to his career in law enforcement. Deputy Church is excited for this new opportunity to participate in the, “positive side of law enforcement,” and to work toward building relationships with our staff and students. Both of Deputy Church’s parents were teachers and his wife is a teacher too, so he feels, “very much at home,” in his new role with East Valley School District.