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By Mark Varenhorst, MCP Contributing Writer
CUSTER — October 17 found me making my way to Mason County Eastern School District to tour the schools and meet with Mason County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jake Lesinski, the school resource officer (SRO) assigned to MCE.
Lesinski grew up in Mason County and graduated from Ludington High School in 2016. He has been with the Mason County Sheriff’s Office since 2021, previously working in corrections and the marine unit. He attended the West Shore Community College Police Academy, finishing in 2023 and was hired by MCSO as a road patrol deputy. He is now in his third year as an SRO.
Lesinski is married and has a 2-year-old daughter. He is an avid outdoorsman which is not surprising having grown up in Mason County. Most people who grow up here are connected in one way or another to being outdoors be it woods hunting, beach swimming or anything else such as hiking, sightseeing, watching the boats from the shore or hitting the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum or bike trails. All of us here are connected in one way or another to the outdoors, being in a rural area.
Lesinski spent some time in his office explaining what he does and how he does it.
“I have an open-door policy here; kids can come talk to me anytime, I’m here for them,” he said.
I mentioned the huge birthday card on the wall signed by students.
“I love that they did that, I don’t know how they knew it was my birthday but there it is,” said Lesinski.
I noticed there was another behind it.
“I just love that they do that for me, I haven’t taken it down,” he said.
We sat going over things he does and how he interacts with the kids. Lesinski is trained like any other MCSO Deputy but also holds instructor certification for:
ALICE – Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate
TEAM – Teaching, Educating and Mentoring
Lesinski said he sees being an SRO as a chance to create a positive perception of law enforcement for an entire generation. As we sat there, I noticed his dry erase board and the names on it. This brought on quite a discussion. Lesinski called it the “wall of shame” with a laugh. When something at the school passes what would be disciplined by the school, he becomes involved and tries to handle it by a different approach. Once the student is in his office, Lesinksi has the student call his/her parents. The student explains what was done to prompt the call.
Parents often believe their child would not have done that, but there are cameras everywhere and they do not lie. Sometimes even your child threw the first punch etc. Perhaps a bad day? Lesinski’s approach is to sit the student down and figure out how they can work the issue out.
Instead of a ticket or other proceedings, it can be worked off. The student’s name goes on the ‘wall of shame’ and has choices of how to work off the transgression. Each offending student is given a choice of community service, or perhaps could join a sport? Maybe the student needs to be involved in something as a group. I found the community service approach quite interesting. Here is what you did, you rake leaves at this house this many hours. Quite an approach.
“If you are not going to get smart you are going to get strong” said Lesinski. Jake, I am still laughing at that one!
Lesinski was chosen by the students at MCE to be their keynote speaker at graduation. I found that to be very interesting as it says much about him and his character. That choice shows me that he is doing well in the mentoring part of his job. Success Jake!
In the one spot we had stopped and the kindergarten class was coming back into the building. They were patting his hand, smiling at him and engaging him. The smile on his face as they went by said mountains. Undersheriff Derrek Wilson, you have the right person at MCE. Lesinski is in his element here.
At MCE the buildings are closer and one can go from one to antoher rapidly, which is good for Lesinski’s duties as he can get there faster. We toured the schools and met some of the teachers and also Superintendent Paul Shoup at one point. We also passed a wall of flowers where pictures of the kids were in the flowers. I loved it and thought it the perfect spot to get his picture. The picture is so distant you really cannot see them but you get the idea and you see Jake’s smile.
Each of the officers I have met seems to fit their spot perfectly. Dep. Jake Lesinski was fun to hang with; quite relaxed and easy going, but in tune to his school and their needs. All of them want to do their very best for the kids in the area, and for the faculty. I thank them for that since my wife is still out there at those very schools. Heidi, you can retire you know? By the way, since I am gone a lot working on stories, will you learn how to run the lawn tractor and pick up the leaves? I just have no time for that. I will probably pay for that joke.
On to Ludington Elementary and Deputy David Barnett next.
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