Penn Police officer PALs with local youth

Some Penn Police officers patrol the streets. One patrols homework club and bowling lessons.

Penn dedicates a full-time police officer to one of the 26 Police Athletic League centers across Philadelphia, which serve as after-school programs for local communities.

Officer Cassandra Parks-DeVaughn spent years as a Penn patrol officer before working for the Tucker PAL center located at 46th Street and Woodland Avenue. Although she is an aspiring detective, “My heart belongs to those kids,” she said.

Not all kids in the neighborhood can afford to go to an after-school program, Penn Police Lieutenant Gary Williams said. Instead of “wandering the streets” and “getting into trouble,” PAL offers children a safe alternative that fosters education and positive activities.

After school, 6- to 18-year-old children arrive at PAL where they complete homework, read books and work with computers for two hours. At five o’clock, children participate in athletic programs which include tennis, flag football and golf, among other sports. In addition, Tucker PAL competes against other PAL centers in academic challenges. Eventually, the girls of Tucker PAL will eat dinner at a restaurant as part of their etiquette lessons in the mentoring program called Positive Images.

Many of these activities are sponsored by donations from Verizon Wireless and the Verizon Foundation, which have “adopted” the Tucker center, and through other fundraising.

Other Penn Police officers volunteer at PAL, Williams said. “They love seeing the kids have a smile on their face.” Penn Police holds an annual event for Tucker PAL members at the Class of 1923 Arena skating rink.

Children at the center, although touting cheerleading, football and free time as their favorite activities, recognize the additional benefits they receive from PAL.

Eleven-year-old Daekwon Garmon said he gets better grades in school thanks to the homework help he receives at the center, also boasting that he received a score of “advanced” on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, a standardized test administered to public school students annually. “That’s the highest score,” he said proudly, adding that he wants to be an architect when he grows up.

“Our kids are proud A/B students because they do their work every day,” Parks-DeVaughn said.

PAL also awards college scholarships to their students each year, who are frequently the first of their families to attend college, she said.

Each year, Penn students — often through sorority and fraternity philanthropy events — volunteer to spend time with PAL kids. “I think it’s great for the PAL kids to see college students who are successful,” Williams said. “It shows them the steps they need to take to get to the college level.”

Parks-DeVaughn agreed that college mentors are important. “The younger ones can see that school doesn’t stop at high school.”

“I want to be a teacher,” seven-year-old Amber Starks said, adding that her favorite after-school activity at PAL is “riding on the scooters.”

Francis Bangura, an 11 year old, said that he wants to play football in college and that PAL has helped him become a better athlete.

PAL has other less obvious benefits for the children it serves. “It builds character,” said Edward Savage, a Philadelphia Police officer who works at Tucker PAL. The center is “part of the quilt for the community,” building a camaraderie between police officers and residents.

Parks-DeVaughn added that the opportunity to know a police officer first-hand shows children “we just want to help them out.”

Eleven-year-old Layãnna Beard, who first came to PAL when she was four years old, had only shining things to say about Parks-DeVaughn and Savage.

“He plays with us, he runs around … he is so fun,” Beard said of Savage. “Every time before I leave I say, ‘I love you, Miss Casandra!’”

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