Mr. Slavny, a school figure who every teacher seems to know and love, has recently decided to run for sheriff with the hope of making a difference in the community he loves.

This school year marks Mr. Slavny’s 10th year working at Victor to ensure the safety of the students. During this time there are few students who don’t know Mr Slavny’s continuous energy and optimism.

Every morning you can find Mr. Slavny at the North Entrance, shaking hands with each student who enters the school. Mr. Slavny makes a point of greeting every student enthusiastically. As he puts it, “I have two children in the district but I also have four thousand children in the district”.

As the position of sheriff has opened up, Mr. Slavny hopes to take the opportunity to help rebuild the office of sheriff as well as the community itself. The decision to run for the position came because of Mr. Slavny’s belief that anyone with the tools to help should do that.

Mr. Slavny has gathered these tools through his years in the police department as well as his time working closer to the community in the school. He hopes that through his leadership, the people working in the department will feel appreciated and hopefully lead to a better work environment and better work production.

It is Mr. Slavny’s opinion that the county runs smoothest when “community and cops are the same”. He acknowledges that in recent years a gap may have formed between the two but states that it’s the responsibility of both the police and the community to try to heal that rift.

For Mr. Slavny, an example of the community and first responders coming together is after the events of 9/11. Mr. Slavny led a relief force during the tragedies on that day. When thinking about that day, the thing that stood out to Mr. Slavny was the incredible community outpouring surrounding the first responders in the city.

Mr. Slavny told how when the first responders were returning to the hotels they were being housed at, thousands of people were holding signs and shouting their thanks to those that risked their lives.

 Mr. Slavny expressed that, “Cops aren’t usually told thank you and that’s fine they’re doing their job, but to see so many people express thanks to another group was truly heartwarming.”

When looking at how the people of New York came together with the first responders, Mr. Slavny asserted that it was because they shared a singular mission. He realizes that the diversity of community makes complete cohesion impossible but states that to heal the gap that resides between cops and the community both parties must acknowledge their individuality and value one another while working towards a common goal.