NEISD police officer spreads holiday joy on campus
When the bell rings, the hallways at Bradley Middle School are filled with students dashing to their next class.
The smells and sounds of something sweet never fail to grab their attention.
Dean Osborne has been the campus police officer at Bradley for six years.
Every December, Officer Osborne decks out his office in full Christmas spirit.
There are lights, a mini village with snow, and even an electric train.
“I’m just an old railroad man myself. My dad was on a railroad and my brother was on a railroad. We worked in a little town called Carbondale, Pennsylvania in northeast Pennsylvania, for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. My brother was a trackman, I was a trackman, and my dad was a brakeman,” Officer Osborne said.
Students come by for cheerful holiday music, warm hot chocolate and some educational trivia.
Officer Osborne joined the NEISD Police Department after spending twenty years in the army. Now he’s using his experience to keep kids both safe and smiling.
“Throughout the District, not just this one, we have some kids with adult problems and they are dealing with that every day. Myself, the teachers, the coaches, the Assistant Principals, the Principals, that’s our job and that’s what we do what we do because we care about the kids and we want to make that difference. We care about them and we want them to be successful,” he said.
Officer Osborne said he wants the kids to wake up excited and content to get out of bed every morning.
“To be successful at whatever they do; my mom always told me, ‘Son, I don’t care if you are a garbage man as long as you are the best garbage man you can be,’” he added.
His innate passion is inspiring the students around him.
Carson Snowden is a 6th grade student at Bradley.
“I love it because on the first day of school he came to our table and he heard us talking about Army stuff and we just started going on and on that’s how we got here,” Snowden said.
This will be Officer Osborne’s last year at the school with plans to retire at the end of July.
“I’m probably going to be sad but at least he came here happy and finished happy so that’s all that really matters,” Carson added.
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