Officer Dixiana Walker of the Altoona Police Department is making a difference at Willowbrook Elementary School…
Fluent in English and Spanish, Officer Walker helps bridge language gaps and build trust with Spanish students and families. Walker says she strives to be the role model she needed as a child, emphasizing the importance of representation in law enforcement.
“So typically, we’ll go into classrooms, and then we’ll just go over a curriculum,” Walker said. “They’re all set in English, and so while I was teaching, I would notice some kids that were just not understanding what I was saying, and so the look they had was a look that I could relate to.”
Walker wants to be the role model she always wanted as a kid.
“I was born in California, I lived in L.A., my parents are originally from El Salvador,” Walker said. “We moved out here in Iowa when I was eight years old, I started out in second grade and didn’t understand anything. I was that kid where they’ll look at me, and they’ll smile, but they have no idea what I’m saying.”
Teachers at Willowbrook find that Spanish-speaking students are connecting with Walker.
“She embraced it, and she is here quite often, above and beyond her regular kind of Officer Friendly duties, and we’ve just built a partnership here,” said Amy Olesen, English Speakers of Other Languages teacher at Willowbrook Elementary.
“It’s really hard, day in, day out, and when Officer Walker shows up, [students are] able to just be able to communicate very openly, and they’ve realized what an asset their language is because of her,” Olesen said.
Watch the report below from 11Alive:
