The clock rings at 6:30 a.m., lunches are packed and kids dressed by 7 a.m.. Officer Angelica Covington wakes up and  helps her kids get ready for school, then puts on her own police uniform and heads down to James Bowie High School to see what unexpected work awaits her that day.

Covington and Officer Darrell Cheney are the two main School Resource Officers at Bowie High School, also known as SRO’s. They are both relatively new to Bowie’s campus and are on campus whenever they are needed to help assist students and staff.

“I have been working at Bowie for the last two school years.  SRO Cheney trained here at Bowie, however, this is his first school year as the SRO,” Covington said.

Although students don’t recognize what the officers accomplish, some teachers notice and appreciate all the SRO’s do.

“They provide a safe environment in the hallway and protect against outside infiltrators and are a positive presence to keep students and faculty safe,” biology teacher James Dammann said.

Because the younger students don’t know exactly what the SRO’s job entails or what their duties are, the SRO’s often face disrespect from students.

“I think the officers should be more highly respected by students because they are an important part of our school operation and our school won’t be the same without them,” Dammann said.

Younger students, or underclassmen haven’t been around long enough to realize how the SRO’s help Bowie.

“I feel like more people should know about what these officers do so they can truly appreciate what they do,” sophomore Drew McDonald said.

However, the SRO’s know that they will not be respected by everyone on campus and there have been plenty of times when the student body mistreated them.

“Faculty treats the SRO’s on campus with respect. There is always those individuals that are disrespectful to police but that is going to be everywhere,” Covington said.

A big part of SRO’s duties are to help get trouble making students under control and put them on the right track towards a successful future.

“The hardest thing is dealing with students who don’t believe in themselves as much as we believe in them to make better choices, it is hard to see kids not learn from their own mistakes,” Covington said.

Officers never know what they will be doing each day, each day may be completely different than the last.

“The great thing about police work is that our day is hardly ever the same. Our day is based on other people’s lack of good choices and/or accidents that are not in anyone’s control,” Covington said.

Covington doesn’t just deal with kids at school, she spends time with children of her own when she goes home from helping teenagers at Bowie.

“I am a mom to two kids and since it is baseball season we are either playing ball or going to dance class,” Covington said.

Outside of Bowie, Cheney has an interest in other police training programs besides keeping teenagers safe.

“I am working out or training police K-9 officers with the other officers since that is my passion,” Cheney said.

Covington says she has always wanted to be an officer.

“Being a police officer is something within my family and I have grown up with the idea and goals to help people,” Covington said.

However, Cheney has more goals as being an officer he wants to accomplish.

“As a K-9 trainer, I knew I could be even more successful not just training them but being an officer with a K-9,” Cheney said.

Both officers focus on the important parts of their job in order to become better at what they do.

“We like the communication and positive interactions with the students. Every job has something someone doesn’t like to do therefore, we don’t focus on that. If we did, then it would grow,” Covington said.