Dallas Township PD’s Posten honored for educational work

DALLAS — A township police officer was named ‘Pennsylvania Instructor of the Year’ by Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence (L.E.A.D.) at a conference last month.

Bernard Posten was given the honor at L.E.A.D.’s Seventh Annual 21st Century Drug and Violence Prevention Training Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey which ran from Mar. 20 to Mar. 22.

L.E.A.D. is a nationwide non-profit that works to protect communities from drugs and violence, providing services both on the street and within the classroom, bringing law enforcement officials together with residents of their jurisdictions.

CEO of L.E.A.D. Nick DeMauro said, “We’re pleased to congratulate Officer Posten on his outstanding work during the school day, educating kids on the value of drug and violence prevention.”

L.E.A.D.’s ‘in the classroom’ approach is taught by 3,000 trained instructors across 41 states and Posten is one of those instructors.

“I’ve been really pleased about how the students have reacted to these exercises in the program,” Posten said, remarking that the role-playing and skits he performs are some of the students’ favorite aspects of the program. “They’ve taken it with full force and their progress shows me how much they’re learning.”

Posten currently teaches about 187 fourth-grade students in the Dallas School District and will begin teaching sixth and eighth grade next year. He also coaches Back Mountain Little League and the Dallas JR Mounts football team.

As baseball season picks up, Posten reported that some of his students will tell him during practice what lessons they’re using outside the classroom.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to know that the kids are applying the tools I’ve taught them through L.E.A.D. in their every day lives,” Posten said. “As a teacher to the students, they get to see me in a different light. My involvement with L.E.A.D. has been nothing but positive.”

For more information on L.E.A.D., please visit http://www.leadrugs.org

Original article: https://www.timesleader.com/news/1551427/dallas-township-pds-posten-honored-for-educational-work