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| Many community members, including past and present students at Windham Middle School, joined Windham Police Officer Matt Cyr at a farewell gathering on June 17. From left are Chayse Caron, Sandra Donnelly, Matt Cyr, Joe Donnelly, Levi Hayman, Trevor Baillargeon, and Wyatt Richards. PHOTO BY LORRAINE GLOWCZAK |
Officer Matt Cyr is looking forward to his new role as a Recreational Guide with the New England Outdoor Center near his hometown of Millinocket, retiring from a 29-year career in law enforcement.
Having been with the Windham Police Department since 1995, Cyr is best known for his role as a Community and School Resource Officer at Windham Middle School, playing a large part in the lives of the area youth.
His impact on students, and the community in general, have been instrumental in his popularity through his admired DARE to Adventure program, where he taught healthy risk-taking, resiliency, and sound decision-making through a variety of outdoor activities such as white-water rafting, kayaking and rock climbing. The mission of DARE is to prepare the student to confront life’s challenges positively and prevent substance abuse.
“Officer Matt Cyr brought a love of working with students, staff and families to his job as the SRO,” said WMS Principal Drew Patin. “Through his humor and fun-loving nature, Matt made all students feel welcomed and a part of the school community. His DARE program and DARE to Adventure were his pride and joy, and he should be commended for the education he provided and modeled to students.”
Haley Atherton, who will be a WHS senior this fall and was involved in the DARE to Adventure program while in middle school, was among his well-wishers.
“Officer Cyr was and is an important part of my life,” she said. “All through high school, I still visited him because he is such an inspiration. While in the DARE to Adventure program, he took care of me and taught me a lot about myself – especially about teamwork and leadership.”
Levi MacDonald, who will be a WHS junior in the fall, has also maintained a connection with Cyr since participating in the DARE to Adventure program.
“Officer Cyr pushed us to achieve our goals, encouraging us to try new things and introduced us to new adventures,” MacDonald said. “He supported us and was there for us if we ever needed someone.”
In addition to being a positive role model for youth, Cyr played a role within the larger community. For example, he worked alongside the Windham Parks and Recreation Department to build the Windham skate park.
He also helped bring in the National Night Out, created neighborhood watch programs, worked with banks to teach theft prevention and offered Citizen Response to Active Assailant events, teaching situational awareness.
Cyr was a part of a team of individuals, including former WHS Assistant Principal Kelli Deveaux, former Sebago Lake Region Chamber Executive Director Aimee Senatore and WPD Captain Bill Andrew, establishing a drug-free coalition.
“We all wanted to send the message to the adults to set the right examples for youth,” Cyr said. “The original concept was to spread the word about healthy decision making and to offer educational opportunities to adults about not focusing so much on alcohol and to store owners who sold alcohol and their employees about carding people, etc.”
As the group grew, Cyr said the volunteer organization needed to hire an administrator. So, they applied for and received a Federal DFC (Drug-Free Communities) grant. Today, the group is known as Be The Influence (BTI).
“Matt Cyr was instrumental in identifying the need for an organization like Be the Influence and has been a huge part of its success,” said Laura Morris, BTI Executive Director. “His contribution in this community is unsurpassed in reaching hundreds of youths a year that love and respect him and are motivated by his inspiration to make healthy choices. His energy, expertise and passion will be sorely missed.”
WPD Chief Kevin Schofield agrees with Morris’ sentiments, sharing the depth of loss Cyr’s absence will have among his peers. <
“In my 36-plus years in the law enforcement profession, I have seen few people who have impacted a community such as Matt Cyr. Matt’s 22-plus years in our school system have had an unquantifiable impact not only on the thousands of students he has reached but also on assuring that the police department was truly involved with the school department and the community. Several of our current officers and others in the area attribute, at least in part, that Matt impacted their decision to become police officers. Internally, Matt has embraced additional duties that will take us some time to replace; I suspect after July 1st we will become more enlightened about that! Overall, I feel confident that I speak for all of us, that Matt has been more than a co-worker. He is a friend and will always be part of our department. He will be truly missed!”
Cyr said he is looking forward to his new adventure as a recreational guide, where he will help the New England Outdoor Center expand its program offerings. Although he is ready to shift from law enforcement, where the challenges and duties of a police officer have increased immensely, he said he will miss thousands of things about working for the Windham community and school.
“Windham has been the most supportive community of me and my programs,” Cyr said. “I was supported by the town council, the school department and the school board. Without that support, I would not have been able to do my job very well.”
But perhaps most importantly, he recalls one of the most extraordinary things he will miss.
“Most definitely the youth,” Cyr said. “I have connected pretty strongly with the students, and I will miss them. They are just a lot of fun and made my job fun.”
Chief Schofield said the WPD offers Cyr all the best with his future endeavors, and Morris added that BTI is very excited for the deserved happiness he has ahead. Patin also wishes him the best on behalf of WMS, saying, “Whoever takes over for Matt will have big shoes to fill.” <
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