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Master Corporal Rich Collins has been a Delaware State Trooper for 27 years, 12 of which he spent as a School Resource Officer  (SRO) at William Penn High School. Collins admits he heard plenty of negative comments about Penn even when he himself was in high school but says,” It’s a very positive place. Once I got inside the building I realized the reputation was definitely exaggerated.” Collins, who is due to retire, has spent the last days of his assignment as an SRO escorting the Grab and Go school bus that drops off meals in neighborhoods along the Route 9 Corridor and in  Riverside. Instead of sitting in his vehicle waiting for the bus to move from one location to another, Collins always got out and carried the bags of food for young children and the elderly. “He doesn’t have to do that, he goes out of his way to help others and we’re going to miss him,” said nutrition services worker Elizabeth Williams. Collins will also be missed at William Penn where he kept a watchful eye over students and staff,  “Rich was an awesome SRO. He always made time to meet with a parent or student that needed his support,” said Deputy Principal of Operations Jim Zimmerman.  Collins is grateful for his longterm assignment as an SRO at Penn. “ I’ve always considered the staff, teachers, and counselors just a big family who are there for the kids and each other. I’m going to miss the students.” While Rich Collins won’t walk the halls of William Penn as an SRO again, he will always be considered family, after all, Once a Colonial, Always a Colonial!

Thank you, Mst. Cpl. Collins for representing Who We Are!