NEW YORK POLICE OFFICER RECEIVES NATIONAL "INNOVATION IN THE CLASSROOM" AWARD

Officer Jason Peruzzi of Canajoharie PD to be honored by peersat national conference of school resource officers

HOOVER, Ala., June 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Officer Jason Peruzzi, who serves as a school resource officer in the Canajoharie (NY) Central School District, has been named the recipient of the 2025 "Innovation in the Classroom Award." The award is presented by The National Road Safety Foundation and the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO). Officer Peruzzi was selected by a panel of his peers in NASRO and will receive the award July 7 at the annual NASRO Conference in Grapevine, TX.

The award, which recognizes innovative teaching of traffic safety in schools by a police officer, carries with it full conference registration and an expenses-paid trip to the NASRO Conference.

Officer Peruzzi has been in law enforcement since 2007 and became the Canajoharie School District's first school resource officer in 2016. He works with children from pre-K through high school, so they get to know him, building trust in him and in police officers in general.

Officer Peruzzi tailors his programming to fit the age groups he's teaching. For first and second-graders, he runs a bike rodeo, which teaches basics of understanding and respecting traffic signals and traffic laws. His programs for middle schoolers focus on crashes and their impact on drivers, passengers, families and friends. At the high school level, he coordinates with the driver education teacher and covers speeding, impairment and other safety issues, supplementing lessons with having students drive a course with drunk driving goggles. He puts together a teen driver safety week, which includes placing crashed cars on school property to demonstrate the aftermath of a crash.

Mo Canady, Executive Director of the National Association of School Resource Officers, said, "Officer Peruzzi's efforts demonstrate how a dedicated, ongoing presence in schools from start to finish can build trust and respect for police officers with young people."

"We are pleased to recognize the outstanding work that Officer Peruzzi does at all grade levels in his school district," said Michelle Anderson, Director of Operations at The National Road Safety Foundation. "His creativity and passion pays off when the teens he has mentored get behind the wheel."

NASRO, the world's leader in school-based policing, is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 for school-based law enforcement officers, school administrators and school security and/or safety professionals who work as partners to protect schools and their students, faculty and staff members.

NASRO developed the "Triad" concept of school-based policing, which divides SRO responsibilities into three areas: public safety educator, informal counselor/mentor and law enforcement officer. By training law enforcement officers to educate, counsel and protect school communities, the more than 7,000 men and women of NASRO continuously lead by example and promote a positive image of law enforcement to school children and school communities. For more information, go to www.nasro.org

The National Road Safety Foundation, Inc. (NRSF) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charitable organization that for more than 60 years has been dedicated to reducing crashes, deaths and injuries on our nation's highways by promoting safe driving habits through greater public awareness.

NRSF resources, which are free, deal with distracted driving, speed and aggression, impaired driving, drowsy driving, driver proficiency and pedestrian safety. The Foundation also works with youth advocacy groups and sponsors contests to engage teens in promoting safe driving to their peers and in their communities. For more information or to download free programs, visit www.nrsf.org.

Media Contact:
David Reich 914 325-9997
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SOURCE The National Road Safety Foundation