Faith & Blue: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School students meet local police chief and friends

One by one, children slowly marched in single file to their designated spaces in the auditorium of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School on Friday morning, Oct. 11, for their school assembly. With every student came an amplification of chatter and laughter as their unsure faces began to settle into the excitement of seeing visiting law enforcement and chaplains from the Anchorage Police Department.

All six grades at the Catholic school were present for the second annual Faith & Blue assembly at the Catholic school. The assembly is one of the Anchorage Police Department’s events for National Faith & Blue Weekend, Oct. 11-14.

“I was here last year as well; it’s always wonderful to see the kids,” said Police Chief Sean Case, who is a practicing Catholic and member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish since the 1990s. “Kids are curious, and this allows us to kind of establish a relationship with kids early on so they know that they can trust us.”

Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case speaks to children at the “Faith and Blue” assembly at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Anchorage on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. The event brought together law enforcement of the Anchorage Police Department to the Catholic school for National Faith & Blue Weekend to teach children that they can trust police officers. (Jay Luzardo/North Star Catholic)

This is the second time Anchorage police visited the school for a Faith & Blue assembly. They previously hosted an ice cream social at Lumen Christi Catholic High School in 2022 for Faith & Blue Weekend.

“For this whole weekend throughout the nation, different chaplains and police departments are trying to do faith-based outreach to meet-and-greet with cops, which ties into APD’s program, ‘Cops for Community,’” said Anchorage police chaplain Sonny Turpin, who coordinated the visit at the school that Friday.

Faith & Blue was launched in 2020 to facilitate unified communities using local partnerships among law enforcement professionals, residents, businesses, and community groups through the connections of local faith-based organizations, according to Faith & Blue’s website. The initiative aims to re-calibrate police-community relations through activities that are organized jointly by faith-based or other community groups and law enforcement agencies.

The Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau also recently celebrated two Masses for and in honor of the law enforcement community at the Blue Masses in Anchorage and Juneau. The Masses were celebrated on Sunday, September 29, the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, patron saint of police officers, and complemented the Faith & Blue festivities.

“Police are their friends. Police are there for them. Police are approachable, and police love kids, as we all do,” Turpin said. The APD chaplain has worked as a volunteer for four years now.

After the school completed its regular assembly announcements and acknowledgments, Principal Kathy Gustafson welcomed law enforcement and chaplains to the stage. Each grade took turns sharing a prayer or posters they created for their esteemed guests. Officers smiled and chuckled with every small gesture the students took to welcome them.

Principal Gustafson then took the opportunity to ask law enforcement to explain why keeping hands to themselves during recess is important.

“Nobody’s perfect … but we also have to learn to respect each other during recess,” said Sergeant Noel Senoran. He then passed the mic to police chaplain Margaret Griffo to tell students about their canine companions on stage.

Some St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School students look on toward the stage as Anchorage Police chaplain Margaret Griffo introduces chaplain dog Smarty.

Griffo first spoke about APD’s chaplain dog Smarty. Many children were seen leaning forward in attention as they learned about Smarty’s journey from Indiana to Alaska to become a chaplain dog, while others whispered to each other about Smarty’s long, white and black coat and her infectious smile.

Anchorage police’s crisis response dog, Jet, was also in attendance at the assembly. Griffo went on to answer questions students asked about the dogs. Griffo noted that both dogs’ jobs revolve around helping people who are suffering after police have been called.

“Their job is to bring love,” Griffo told students.

Chief Case then took center stage to answer questions from the students about being a police officer. Numerous children dramatically waved their hands in the air to grab the police chief’s attention. The police chief couldn’t help but laugh upon being asked unrelated questions. He pivoted to a sincere, informative tone when asked about his uniform, the amount of work his police department handles, and other topics that arose.

After the assembly, Case said he hopes students understand that they can call the police if they need help.

“We’re friendly,” he said. “We’re people just like everybody else.”

Police dog handlers then visited some classrooms to introduce their canine partners to the students. Students got a chance to meet, pet, and hug the calm police dogs before beginning their schoolwork for the day.

A couple of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School students pet Anchorage Police Department chaplain dog Smarty after the Faith & Blue assembly at the school on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Jay Luzardo/North Star Catholic)