Ruth King knew she wanted to do something unique for holidays at the Hudson Arts and Science Charter School on Midland Avenue involving the Grinch and the Kearny Police Department. But the question was specifically how to make the program unique. And that’s where her son, Police Officer Sean King, entered the picture.
His thought was to have the Grinch come to the school during a bullying presentation. The Grinch would scurry off with presents that didn’t belong to him.
And that’s exactly how it all went down.
Fortunately, however, Sean King and Officer Ryan Brady were on hand, ready to capture the Grinch. And when all was said and done, the Grinch didn’t get away with any presents and was being monitored closely by King and Brady.
But then came the biggest lesson for the day. Earlier, Brady explained the importance of not being tolerant of bullies in any way, shape or form. But now, what should happen to the Grinch, who in this instance was the proverbial bully?
“Should we forgive him?” Brady shouted out to the assembly of second- and third-graders at the school.
Many of the kids responded affirmatively — yes, the Grinch should be forgiven. But not all were ready to let the Grinch off the hook for what he had done.
“One of the kids said if the Grinch came back next year, he’d get a knuckle sandwich,” Ruth King recalled, laughing.
The entire assembly just before Christmas was the totality of the work of the Kearny Police Department’s Community Oriented Policing unit, which is directed by Sgt. Adriano Marques. Brady is one of the regulars in the unit, too, but Sean King isn’t — but because his mom is a teacher at the school, he’s often seen there, interacting with the kids.
It’s the same for Officer Cort Montanino, who had the honor of playing the Grinch — and who did so quite well.
That particular day, just before the school broke for Christmas, King and Montanino were both not on the schedule to work. But they were both happily present for the important assembly.
So, in all, the first time having this assembly, it was a rousing success.
But next year, Ruth King says she hopes to see it grow.
“Because of time constraints, we only had the second- and third-graders at this one,” she said. “But I hope next year, we’ll be able to include some of the older grades.”
Something tells us that will be as much if not more fun that this year’s was.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.