The scourge of school shootings in recent years sends a shudder through every parent with a child in school because it seems that these horrors can hit anytime and anywhere. The worst part of the tragedies is the discovery that the right ‘control measures’ were in place, but somehow, something went wrong. This is because any system is only as good as the people who work in it.

For this reason, it’s worth giving a closer look at the people who are on the front lines on behalf of Lycoming County schools. To do it justice, it deserves more than a cursory glance, so over the next few weeks, we will look at some of the players that operate primarily outside the school, as well as those who work on the inside.

Outside the school are those who must deal with young people who have got themselves into trouble. Brian Pick works for the Juvenile Probation Department for Lycoming County. A Watsontown native who graduated from Warrior Run Area High School in 1988, he then went to Penn State to study criminal justice. He was not able to get into his field right away, so he worked for a few years with Path Day Treatment before eventually getting a position with the Juvenile Probation Office (JPO) where he has now worked for the past twenty years.

If ever a person seems like they were born for their job, Brian Pick is one of them. He is a giant of a man, with a large, imposing presence, which must give any big tough teenager pause before trying to mess with him. Yet, Brian has an engaging meekness that exudes trust. Those who work with him say he has that certain ‘something’ that makes him very, very good at his job.

His job, specifically, is to work with those teenagers who enter the JPO system for either minor or felony offenses. He works not only with the student, but also the school and the family, to seek to address any underlying problems such as substance abuse, peer pressure, family troubles, or mental health. Brian’s role is to try to get these young people on the right track by impressing upon them the need to make right choices and decisions. The carrot he gets to offer those who agree to a consent decree (admitting guilt), is that if they fulfill all their obligations and show good faith, it is possible to get their record expunged. This applies to 75 percent of the cases and has demonstrated a good track record.

While Brian cannot give specifics, he remembers a young man at a local school that worked with him that was charged with possession of marijuana. This young man’s life was going downhill fast, and Brian’s counsel gave him hope. Through his insistence, the young man went out for sports, even though he had never shown interest in athletics before. It worked in getting him away from his old crowd of friends but also turned out that he was so good, it helped him to get accepted into college.

Even good parents sometimes find their children are more than they can handle. There is a lot of support personnel that works with troubled young people; the teachers and administration at the schools, the local resource officer, the Children & Youth Department, West Branch Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission, the JPO office, as well as various religious, social, and volunteer organizations. The support system in Lycoming County is solid, and fortunately, there are solid people who support it.