Former Pickaway-Ross student returns as resource officer

CHILLICOTHE – Once a student of Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center, newly appointed school resource officer Dep. Rex Cockrell is making it his mission to both enforce the rules and help students figure the direction their lives can take.

Cockrell, a Unioto graduate, studied at Pickaway-Ross in 1992 and 1993 in the carpentry program. However, Cockrell said his interests always reached further than carpentry.

"I have always been interested in law enforcement," Cockrell said. "I had some uncles who persuaded me to take the carpentry route and I worked in it for 22 years."

As he pursued carpentry at constructions sites and was eventually being promoted to management, Cockrell worked as a fire fighter for the Union Township Fire Department, trained as an arson investigator, became a reserve officer with the Ross County Sheriff's Office in 2012 and is a member of its rescue diving team.

In addition to his work at Pickaway-Ross, Cockrell is also the assistant fire chief for Union Township.

When the construction company he worked for warned of closing, Cockrell decided to pursue law enforcement as his main career. Cockrell said when the chance came to work at Pickaway-Ross, he took it in February.

"All those years, I worked hand-in-hand with law enforcement," Cockrell said. "I thought at this point in my life, it would be great to get involved."

As the school resource officer, Cockrell said he enforces state laws and school policies, but asks students to remain polite, courteous and cooperative.

But Cockrell took his responsibilities to the next level when he became one of Pickaway-Ross' unofficial counselors.

"The superintendent sat down and said, 'I've heard we have another counselor in the building,'" Cockrell said. "I asked him who that was."

Cockrell said he has grown to advise students who may be having a difficult time navigating their education with his own story of how he became a school resource officer after years in another field. Cockrell has talked to law enforcement and carpentry classes at Pickaway-Ross.

"I try to help students see where the problems may be in their lives while also telling them they are responsible for their own actions," Cockrell said.