At just 25 years old, Alan

Reeves remembers what it was like to be in high school.

He figures that perspective will help him tremendously in his new job,

as the new school resource officer at McIntosh High School.

"It hasn't been too long since I was in school," Reeves said.

"I understand the pressures and the types of things they're going

through."

Reeves, who graduated from Lovejoy High School in Clayton County, recalls

classmates who caved in to the pressures of doing drugs and alcohol. Those

habits always affected them, particularly his teammates on the baseball

squad, he said.

"It's actually pretty cool not to do drugs because you're making

a strong choice not to be like other people," Reeves said.

Reeves has been on the job three weeks, but he's already getting to know

some of the students, building relationships and introducing himself.

Already, Reeves has "parlezed" with the French class (yes, he

actually spoke the language). He's also dropping in on other classes just

to hang out and let the kids get to know him better.

"I have always enjoyed working with young people," Reeves said.

"This is like the best of both worlds: I get to work with young people

and still be involved with law enforcement."

Reeves has been a patrolmen with the Peachtree City Police Department

for just over a year. He graduated from Mercer University in 1997 with

a degree in reli gious

studies.

Peachtree City Police Chief Jim Murray said Reeves was the best candidate

of those applying for the job. He also called Reeves "probably the

best person I've hired in my 30 years of police work."

"If I had to pick somebody to be my son, it would be Alan,"

Murray remarked.

The students at McIntosh, however, are just starting to warm up to Reeves

now that he has been on the job three weeks.

"They're still trying to figure me out and trying to look behind

the badge," Reeves said. "I'm not a robot out to zap people

when they do something wrong."

McIntosh students will be seeing a lot of him, in the halls, in the parking

lot, and in the classrooms giving guest lectures on the dangers of drugs

and alcohol.

Reeves also wants to ham mer

another message home that the value of an education is priceless.

"One of the things I stress to the students is that it's not a bad

thing to be a productive student," Reeves said.

Reeves values his degree in religious studies because it exposed him to

a variety of different faiths and cultures.

Reeves himself is a Christian, and he's not afraid to tell anyone about

it. But he's not going to be "cramming that message down students'

throats."

"It's just who I am," he said. "I believe I speak louder

with my actions than with what I say."

At Mercer, Reeves was a left-handed pitcher for the school's baseball

squad. After he graduated, he was invited to try out for the Kansas City

Royals at spring training.

He wasn't invited to hang on

with the organization, though. And it took time to deal with his baseball

career ending, but Reeves eventually came to grips with it.

"I honestly believe I could have pitched at the next level, but I

know it was meant for me to do something else," he said. "I

knew that God had another plan for me."

In the future, Reeves sees himself getting into coaching, at the high

school level or at least the little league level in Peachtree City if

nothing else.

For now, though, he feels a little bit of pressure realizing he's representing

the entire police department to a constituency that doesn't always trust

the police.

"I really like the fact that people are looking to me to make a difference,"

Reeves said. "It keeps me on an even keel ... and I can never let

the kids down."