Child Abuse Awareness Month observed at Gentry PD

Photo by Randy Moll Kylie Bennett, a Gentry sophomore, places pinwheels on the lawn at Gentry Police Station on Friday. A total of 439 pinwheels were placed by the Gentry High School student council and police, representing the 439 cases of confirmed child abuse in Benton County. The pinwheels, to be on display during the month of April, are to raise awareness of the abuse and to encourage people to report it.
Photo by Randy Moll Kylie Bennett, a Gentry sophomore, places pinwheels on the lawn at Gentry Police Station on Friday. A total of 439 pinwheels were placed by the Gentry High School student council and police, representing the 439 cases of confirmed child abuse in Benton County. The pinwheels, to be on display during the month of April, are to raise awareness of the abuse and to encourage people to report it.

— April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Gentry High School's student council, along with Cheryl Hatfield, an executive assistant at Simmons Bank in Rogers and a volunteer with the Children's Advocacy Center of Benton County located in Little Flock, placed 439 pinwheels in the lawn of the Gentry Police Station to make people aware of the number of confirmed child abuse cases in Benton County and to encourage people to report and stop the abuse.

Students (along with the dean of students and the student council advisor) helped police place the pinwheels along the police station driveway and adjacent to Harps to remind people to help in the effort to prevent and stop child abuse in all its forms.

This is the first year the Gentry Police Department has participated in the observation, according to Keith Smith, Gentry's police chief. He said there was really no room to place the pinwheels at the department's old station downtown but, now that the department is in its new station and has grassy areas, he gladly agreed to participate as soon as he heard of this year's campaign.

Smith and Officers Charles Strickland, Rick Lane and Mark Smithson were on hand to help with the pinwheel placement. Those from the high school included Luke Fox, Daniel Thao, Garrett Matthews, Taylor Hull, Makensi Sweeten, Whitney Holt, AnnDee Holt, Danielle Spencer, Abby Asencio, Kylie Bennett, Yuliana Stasiv, Falyn Cordeiro, Courtney McCollum, Holden Wills, Nova Edwards, Xitlali Estrada, dean of students Brian Little and student council sponsor Alishia Ramsey.

General News on 04/05/2017