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More Than a Badge: Officer Aston Retires After Seven Years of Service

Officer Aston standing in front of State High holding paper title 'school safety.' Photo courtesy of John Aston.
Officer Aston standing in front of State High holding paper title ‘school safety.’ Photo courtesy of John Aston.

Officer John Aston, State High’s devoted school resource officer, has announced his retirement effective Feb. 28, after seven years in the position.

Aston began his career as a police officer and later became a detective, until May of 2018 when he began his career as the State High School Resource Officer. 

The change was significant for Aston, and he described his transition from detective to SRO.

“I was excited for the transition because as a detective, it was like an assembly line of cases that I was never catching up with. I was bringing cases home with me. I was working long hours,” Aston said. “Then Parkland shooting happened on Feb. 14 in 2018, and like everybody else, the questions came in, ‘Why? How? How [did] this happen again?’”

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Impacted by the Parkland shooting, Aston contacted the previous State High SRO Terry Stec to see what they were doing at the school level to combat tragedies like the shooting. After learning that Stec was retiring, Aston saw it as an opportunity to make a positive impact in the school community.

Aston has always approached his position with a mindset of ‘How can I help?’ and ‘How can I improve?’ This mindset has not gone unnoticed by friend and colleague Brett Wilson, an associate principal at State High. 

“I would think the biggest thing that he does is he goes above and beyond in everything he does. The role of the SRO is only certain things, but he is going to classes and working in classes. He’s the creation of the Safety Ambassadors and working with students, doing different things for school safety week,” Wilson said. “It’s just he just goes constantly above and beyond, whether it be for kids, for faculty, or for the district as a whole”

In his role, Aston quickly began making meaningful changes within the school and the community. In 2019, Aston created the Student Safety Ambassadors program, recognizing many students’ interest in safety within the school and the community. Senior Mirabella Bills shared her experience as an ambassador. 

“It’s mainly to be a student leader, in your classrooms and, at school events and that…It’s just like having a more in depth knowledge of how to keep yourself and your classmates safe,” Bills said.

Aston takes pride in the program, emphasizing its importance and how it has helped improve school safety.

“[The Student Safety Ambassador program] has been a really important asset because now we have informal leaders in the school. If something happens, a substitute teacher or in a moment of crisis, somebody just panics, which it happens, they [the ambassadors] have the ability to step up and be that informal leader because they know what to do,” Aston said.

Big challenges also bring big rewards, as Aston discussed the biggest benefit of being the SRO. 

“[My biggest reward is] students knowing that I’ve walked through hallways, talked to students and gone into the classrooms that they trust me. I saw this when I was a new officer. 
When you put the uniform on, you dehumanize the person behind it sometimes, you’re the cop and a robot,” Aston said “I’ve been trying get people to realize that when you take off my uniform underneath here, I might have a black T-shirt on, but it might have Star Wars on the front of it, meaning I am just like them. It’s not like you’re gonna cut my arm off and there’s gonna be wire like I’m not a robot. I think that is the biggest plus is the breakdown of stereotypes.”

To break down this stereotype, Aston approaches his job with an emphasis on connection and communication with students and staff. 

“His door is always open, [he has] kind of a policy of making himself available to talk to people and, starting up this Student Safety Ambassadors thing…it is so valuable, to help students feel like they have some kind of agency in their own safety, because feeling helpless, that sucks…then you don’t feel safe if you feel like there’s nothing you can do. 
So, like empowering students and connecting with students, I think is really something that he’s excelled at,” Bills said.

Aston ultimately views his role as a resource for everyone within the school community, not just State High students. 

“My role is to, I mean, it’s a cliché, but [to be a] school resource officer, I’m a resource for everybody,” Aston said. “I’m here every day because I’m a conduit and a liaison for everything else for my police department, for all the other police departments, for the district attorney’s office, state police, FBI, you name it. So I’m always able to help people out and if I don’t know the answer, it’s easy.”

For the past month the new SRO, Officer Matt Hertlein, has been shadowing Aston, learning the insides of the school and the position. Aston’s career has made an impact on students and colleagues alike, making his departure from the high school bittersweet. 

“It’s gonna be really big shoes to fill just because of everything that he brings…and what he does above and beyond his job, what he’s willing to do for people to help people, always with a lens on safety and and that sort of thing,” Wilson said. “So I think it’s he’s done an amazing job for us and he’s gonna be really missed here.”

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