MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – Preston Woodrum is a new deputy sheriff with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
The 21-year-old grew up in Riner, Virginia and attended Auburn High School. What inspired him to serve was one of his teachers.
“Her husband was a police officer or a sheriff of somewhere at some point,” Woodrum said. “She would ask me every day how I was doing and I would say, 'I’m doing good.’ She said, ‘No, you’re not. You’re doing well.’ And so I asked her what that meant. And she told me that, you know, ‘You’re not doing good until you do good for people.’ So that’s kind of how I’ve grown into law enforcement and see law enforcement.”
His dream of becoming a law enforcement officer wouldn’t have been possible without the Books & Badges program, which is the brainchild of Blacksburg Police Chief Anthony Wilson.
In 2016, Wilson and other law enforcement agencies were discussing diversity and barriers that prevented community members becoming police officers or pursuing other careers. One obstacle was affording a college education.
“The question came up, ‘Why don’t we do it for every kid in Montgomery County? Why don’t we create a program where every student can get at least two years of free community college?’"
That’s exactly what they did. Wilson teamed up with Christiansburg Police, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and New River Community College (NRCC) to form Books & Badges. Any graduating high school senior in the New River Valley with at least a 2.5 GPA can apply for a scholarship to attend New River Community College for two years and graduate with a job in law enforcement.
It’s a $10,000 education the students get for free which is funded by tax dollars and private donations.
“Everyone is on the same playing field, regardless of your financial background,” said Erika Tolbert, who works at NRCC.
Tolbert is the development specialist for NRCC’s Access to Community College Education program, called ACCE.
Since the Books & Badges program was such a success, NRCC worked with the schools and county officials to ensure that any Montgomery County student can go to the college for free to study nursing, welding or any other degree.
They also have to complete at least 80 hours of community service.
Wilson and Tolbert said ACCE and Books & Badges have led to a new wave of college-educated students with jobs and bright futures, who might not have had the chance otherwise.
“This program was going to be more than building our own police officers or ‘growing our own,’ as we like to say," Wilson said. “It’s going to be about building better citizens."
“Without this program, I just simply wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” Woodrum said. "In every single aspect of life.”
So far, 200 students have gone through the ACCE program, including 20 Books & Badges students.