'I'm not just standing up there teaching. They are teaching me a lot of stuff, too.'
It's all part of a relationship between the Elgin Police Department and Judson University.In a first-floor classroom in Judson University's Lindner Tower, Officer Chad Benavidez prepares for his 3:00 p.m. class. He never trained to be a teacher in his second year in this role.
Judson's RISE students are part of a program that prepares people with intellectual disabilities to live independently and join the workforce. "People with disabilities, these students with disabilities, they are up to seven times more likely to have an interaction with police. So if anything, they should be the people we are teaching more of this stuff to," Benavidez said.
"He's already family. And for him to come in and say I have something I think would be valuable to RISE students. We were very excited about the opportunity," said RISE Program Director Gineen Vargas."I'm not just standing up there teaching. They are teaching me a lot of stuff, too—a lot of their questions. A lot of their concerns bring to lot light a lot of things I could do better as a police officer," he said.
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