During the week of community helpers, Westwind Elementary kindergarten students learn about the several different community members and their jobs. One of the students' favorite presentations comes from the Lubbock Police Department (LPD). For the last several years, LPD has gone out to Westwind with their canine unit to show a demonstration of how the dogs work with the police.  

The students are always very interested in the jobs of these working dogs. The officers explain to the student that these dogs are not pets and do real police work alongside their partners. The students were excited to learn that these dogs go to Texas Tech football games, basketball games and other large events to sniff out explosives to protect the fans and event attendees. The officers explained that these dogs’ nose are exceedingly better than humans and can sniff out all kinds of explosives, drugs, or whatever it's been trained to find. 

The main point of bringing out the police is to give the students experiences seeing how police officers and K-9 units can help people and that they are there to help them if they need it.  

In addition to the LPD K-9 demonstration, students meet community members from several different career fields including veterinarians and nurses. Additionally, the students get to dress up as their favorite community members. Student outfits included firemen, cops, nurses, veterinarians, army soldiers, teachers, ballet dancers and many more!