KEARNEY — Sunrise Middle School is excited to announce the upcoming second annual SMS Football Scrimmage and warm-ups with the Kearney Police Department (KPD), scheduled to take place on August 29 at 3:30/4:00pm. The event will be led by Sunrise Middle School Football Coach Geoff Carnahan .
Building on the success of last year’s event, which was organized by Coach Carnahan in partnership with the school’s resource officers, the scrimmage and KPS warm-ups aim to promote positive interactions between students and local law enforcement officers, fostering stronger community bonds and relationships.
The event will kick off with interactions with KPD officers Nate Dennis, Cody Weldon, and Boyd Weller, who are also dedicated school resource officers at Sunrise Middle School. The participation of these officers showcases their commitment to engaging with students in a meaningful and approachable way. Kearney Police Department Chief of Police, Bryan Waugh, stated, “We can’t thank Coach Carnahan and the staff at Sunrise enough for the support and the opportunity for our police officers to engage with students in a fun, relaxing, and unique way. While our goal with the School Resource Officer program remains to ensure the safety of students, staff, and parents; we find the value in building positive, sustainable relationships with the youth of our community priceless. This event will once again serve to strengthen these goals throughout the entire community and within our own organization. As always, we appreciate the great partnerships we enjoy throughout the entire Kearney Public School District.”
Coach Geoff Carnahan, a driving force behind this initiative, expressed his enthusiasm for the event’s positive impact on the community. He stated, “Sunrise and KPD have a great working relationship, so we thought it would be a good idea to extend that to athletics. By getting the kids and police officers on the field football together, it creates positive interactions that will hopefully turn into positive relationships. Our goal is to show the kids that police officers are in their corner. It’s a simple way to build our already strong community into an even stronger one. We are hopefully shedding a light on the good things that KPD does for our community, but most importantly, the relationships that they are building with our youth. We greatly appreciate them sharing their time with us and hope to continue to involve them with Sunrise students outside of the school.”
Sunrise Assistant Principal Erin Jones also expressed her excitement about the event. “We are extremely fortunate to have amazing school resource officers in our building every day that strive to have multiple positive interactions with our students. This is another example of their stellar commitment to be champions in our schools and community. The SMS Scrimmage not only promotes teamwork and sportsmanship but also strengthens the connection between our students and the dedicated officers who serve our community.”
Parents, students, and community members are invited to the warm-ups (3:30) and scrimmage on August 29 at 4:00pm at the Sunrise Middle School football field to witness the positive interactions between students and KPD officers.
