Students at

Booth Middle School will soon get the chance to take

their turns as boys, and girls, in blue.

The

Peachtree City school, already the first middle school in

Fayette County with a full-time school resource officer,

is now the second middle school in the state to offer a

junior police academy, starting Feb. 22.

The 10-week

program will consist of 90-minute sessions every Tuesday

after school.

The city of

Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County already offers such a

program, with a single officer going around to every

middle school much like a DARE officer would at the

elementary school level.

Cpl.

Heather Horne, the Booth resource officer, got the idea

when she received some information in the mail from a

company that produces a national curriculum for just such

a program.

After

getting some input from officers in Lawrenceville, she

got the go-ahead from her own department and began

organizing the program.

Applications

are still coming in, but she is hoping for about 35

students when the first day rolls around. "if not

this time, we'll get that many next time," she said.

Her plan is

to try for three sessions per year, with a long-range

goal of eventually having some type of class she can

teach during school hours.

The

classroom exposure is not a problem for Horne, who earned

a degree in education and taught school for a year in

Coweta County before becoming a police officer. She is

also a mother of three.

Her roots

are in Peachtree City, as she was a student at Booth

before graduating from McIntosh High School.

"I

always wanted to teach and be around kids," she

said. "My ultimate goal has been to do something

like this. It's the best career move I've ever

made."

As resource

officer, she has been involved in a lot of programs at

Booth, so this newest venture will start slow while she

sees what things work and what things do not.

Students

who participate in the junior police academy will get to

write traffic tickets, operate radar guns and other

activities they see police officers do in real life and

on television.

The program

in its current form is purely extracurricular, with no

academic credit given and no homework required.

"It's mostly fun stuff," said Horne.

The entire

program will be conducted on the Booth campus.

Students

who sign up - there is a $25 fee - will receive

a free T-shirt with a special logo made for the class.

state

program for school resource officers - somewhat easier

for her because of teaching experience