In the public eye: Fournier plays a key role in keeping Windham students safe

Officer Seth Fournier has served with the Windham Police
Department for 10 years and is the School Resource Officer
for Windham High School where he oversees student safety,
physical security and emergency operations.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

It’s no secret that learning is more effective when schools are safe and provide a welcoming atmosphere for all students and adults. That’s a responsibility that Officer Seth Fournier takes to heart in his role as School Resource Officer for the Windham Police Department.

As a positive role model, Fournier helps foster positive relationships with students and serves as a critical resource for school administrators and staff and performs his job with the hope of equipping students with necessary skills to allow them to reach their fullest potential in life.

“My duties include but are not limited to the physical security of RSU 14 buildings and the students within them, emergency operations planning for the district, safety training for the district, education on various topics for students, and the day-to-day operations of the high school community,” Fournier said.

While exhibiting an even temper, patience, the ability to intercept and mediate arguments and fights and the knack of interacting well with adolescents, Fournier has become an invaluable component of the daily school environment in Windham.

He grew up in Bowdoin where he went to Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham and graduated in 2005. He then attended the University of Maine in Orono and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in animal and veterinary science in 2010.

Fournier was working as a corrections officer with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and said he fell in love with law enforcement work which then led him to apply for a position with the town of Windham as a police officer. He’s been a police officer for 10 years now this August and is currently studying to obtain a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Husson University. 

“The best part of my job is being able to cultivate relationships with students and staff through daily interactions, coaching and teaching,” he said.

As a school resource officer, Fournier must stay alert each day to whatever possible situations may arise among students and to keep the school campus safe and secure for everyone.

“The most challenging part of my job in being able to balance the needs of all the stakeholders I deal with within the school district and the police department,” he said.

Continually maintaining a dialogue with school administrators, Fournier is a consummate professional who strives to be an essential liaison between the Windham Police Department and the school district while exhibiting an exceptional grasp of crisis intervention, adherence to law enforcement policies and student privacy.

“The biggest misconception is that I am arresting students whenever I can,” Fournier said. “The reality is that I am a counselor, teacher, and then law enforcement officer, most of my workload results is restorative conversations that help students navigate tough situations.”

Spending many hours training to work with young people in a school setting, Fournier’s uniformed presence at Windham High School has enabled him to get to know the students, as well to be able to educate students about the effects that drugs and alcohol can have upon their lives. Many of those positive interactions are the foundation for his success at the school.   

He said that his most memorable moment of his career as a School Resource Officer so far came when his first group of students that he worked with graduated from high school and later reached out to him explaining that he had significant influence in their current success.

Fournier attributes his success to focusing on his communications skills and interactions with the students as well as school personnel, having a thorough understanding of the juvenile justice system, crisis intervention, and a knowledge of and sensitivity to the social, emotional, and intellectual development of young people. Because he’s embedded in the school fulltime, he uses his comprehensive training and experience to ensure that he has the skills, expertise and resources necessary for serving in a school environment every day.

“My family is proud of the work I do and believe that I am making a real impact within my community working with the school district,” Fournier said. <