EAST PROVIDENCE — The first full of week of classes in the East Providence School Department also saw the initial "High Five Friday" civic engagement endeavor by high school student-athletes under the supervision of district Athletic Director Alex Butler.

The elder Townies visited their younger brethren at the Hennessey Elementary School across from Pierce Memorial Field upon arrival Friday morning, Sept. 6.

High Five Fridays was conceptualized actually about a decade ago by former EPHS School Resource Officer (SRO) Doug Borden, of the East Providence Police Department.

According to Butler, the idea was to create a means of community outreach by SROs in the buildings, of forging relationships in the schools between law enforcement and students and bringing the effort all the way down to the elementary level.

After Borden retired from the EPPD and with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 followed by the opening of the new EPHS a year later, High Five Fridays faded away for a time.

However, upon becoming AD in late 2022, Butler said it was one of the initiatives he wanted to bring back into schools, but with a slightly different focus.

"It went well, but then COVID came and we had the new building, so it kind of faded away. And then I came back in and it was something I wanted to reinstitute," Butler explained. "And it's not an every week deal because I don't want it to get stale. I want the schools to look forward to it, so I reach out to the building principals to see when we can schedule it. Then we set it up, and we go."

High Five Fridays can serve as a way of inspiring the next generation of the EPHS student-athletes, give them someone who is relatively close to them in age to strive to be like not when they're an adult, but when they're teenagers in just a few years.

"It's always been an athlete-centric thing," Butler said. "From my perspective it's always been about the athletes giving back to their community, give back to places where the went to school and to the people who helped them when they were younger."

Butler is seldom, if ever, left wonting for participation by the high schoolers. They've long been enthusiastic about High Five Fridays, some even having been on the other side of the program when they were in elementary.

"The kids love it. They look forward to it. It's something they enjoy. And it puts them in a position where they understand that there are younger kids in the community who look up to them for various reasons," Butler said. "It's not just because they play sports, it's not just about what they do on the field. It's also about what they do in the classroom, in the hallways, out in the community and that's what we want it to be."

The key change in the foundational principle of High Five Fridays to what it is today, according to Butler, is that of from trying to build relationships with SROs and the student population to now of bridging the even the relatively slight gap between the current and high school future Townies, who may or may not play sports by the time they get there. It's about being a good schoolmate as much as it is about being a good teammate.

"Like I told the kids at Hennessey the other day, yes, we want you to reach your possibilities and see what you can be (athletically), but it's also about what you do in class, in the halls," Butler added. "And there's a focus on what you're doing every day to make your school, make your community better. So it's not just about the field, the court or whatever it might be. It's also about emphasizing day-to-day stuff they can do to make things better."