CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A school resource officer at Indian River Middle School in Chesapeake is building connections with students in a unique way — through hair.
Officer Maya Mitchell-Bray created "Braiding with the Blue," an after-school program designed to bridge the gap between policing and the community.
"I've become some of their godmothers, and I don't even know how, and so I enjoy it," Mitchell-Bray said.
Each school year, Mitchell-Bray works alongside a school counselor with 12 girls during two sessions each month. The program has been running for two years at Indian River Middle School.
Beyond braiding, the program covers topics including hygiene, conflict resolution, classroom management skills, how to present yourself, and having hard conversations.
"So learning how to advocate for yourselves is one of the things that I like to teach the students because you have a lot of — I wouldn't say drama — but you do have a lot of personalities in school. So therefore, learning how to navigate that through middle school early on will help you in the long run," Mitchell-Bray said.
Mitchell-Bray also hopes the program introduces students to skills they can carry with them long after they leave.
"I hope that they take away the skill sets they've learned, as well as the ability to venture off, because Chesapeake Public Schools does offer a cosmetology program. Being in middle school is where you start developing your behaviors and things of that nature, so you can align — if you like cosmetology — to go that route. This is a small introduction to different things you can do during your school career at Chesapeake Public Schools," Mitchell-Bray said.
Currently, "Braiding with the Blue" is only offered at Indian River Middle School. Mitchell-Bray hopes to expand the program and create a nonprofit to bring it to other communities.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
