A high school's resource officer is more than just a person with a badge and a gun roaming the halls. That man / woman is a piece of that school, a piece that is integral in so many ways you would not know. During my high school teaching career, I was only fortunate enough to know one. He was there just about every day and his presence was felt by all.
A positive presence by the police force in an educational institution goes a long way. Deuntay Diggs does not seem to be the resource officer for North Stafford High, but as you will see, he did have a positive effect on kids recently. Even if it is for one pep rally, a visit makes a difference.
A police officer absolutely slayed a High School homecoming pep rally Friday when he broke into a flawless dance routine to Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’.
Deuntay Diggs, 2nd Lieutenant, works for the county sheriff’s office in Virginia. He first performed his ‘Formation’ routine a couple of months ago at a small fundraising event to help children who needed school supplies.
Buzzfeed reports that 31-year-old Diggs was the first openly gay cadet at Virginia Military Institute and is the first openly gay deputy to serve at Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.
He told the site that after he came out as a freshman, his foster family disowned him.
‘I told one person at the school, and I asked her not to tell anybody, and [then it] spread like wildfire. I spent roughly the next year in isolation. That was the worst year of my life, but also the best. I had to figure out how to love myself, and what I wanted to be.’
He’s engaged to fiancé Benjamin Lietner, who is a teacher at North Stafford. The two have been together for seven years and plan to marry next summer.
Diggs says that he nearly cancelled his performance at the school this week after learning that his birth mother has terminal cancer and that she only has a couple of months left to live.
He spent time with her at the hospital, and whilst talking, told her about his dance routines and showed her some videos. She laughed at them and loved them and urged him to continue dancing, prompting him to tell the school that he would go ahead with the routine as planned.
‘The reason I’m doing this is to show kids that they can make it, that they can survive, that they can be successful. I’ve been very fortunate, at this time when people look negatively upon law enforcement, that I’m able to change that narrative and open up some conversations and engage with people.’
Officer Diggs, we salute you! – gaystarnews.com
Here are a couple of the videos from the pep rally shared on twitter.
You can head over to gaystarnews.com for a couple other videos and a little bit more of the story, but we thought these were the best.
Thanks for protecting, serving, and slaying, Deputy Diggs. We wish you best in your career as well as your wedding next summer.
h/t: gaystarnews.com