秋葵视频

Statesboro born-and-raised, Jason Long is a name that locals might recognize from his 23 years of experience in local law enforcement.

When plans to enter the military didn鈥檛 pan out after high school, Long attempted college for a few years at 秋葵视频, but his heart and mind weren鈥檛 in it, and he quit. He worked in the University鈥檚 Department of Parking and Transportation before realizing a desire to work with public safety. 

Long attended the Georgia Police Academy and started his law enforcement service with the University’s Police Department before moving to the Bulloch County Sheriff鈥檚 Department where he spent more than 20 years serving Statesboro and Bulloch County.

鈥淢y last eight to nine years, I was in criminal investigations,鈥� Long said. 鈥淚 had special training in crime scene and fingerprint identification, and also in forensic interviewing of children. It just got to the point that I couldn鈥檛 do it any more. Every day I came into the office, I saw children on their worst day. It can make you feel real negative real quick.鈥�

However, law enforcement was all Long knew. It wasn鈥檛 until a media specialist at a local school, Joni Aycock, asked a simple question that he realized there might be another option for him.

鈥淲ith my background in crime scene investigation, I would go every year to Mill Creek Elementary and do a weeklong project with the kids called Mystery Week,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e would teach them about crime scene work and looking for fingerprints. During a conversation with Joni one day, she said 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 you teach?鈥� and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the weeks I spent at the school were some of the best weeks I had in law enforcement.鈥�

Long returned to Georgia Southern at the age of 45 to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree in middle grades education with concentrations in history and science.

鈥淚 walked into class, and everyone thought I was the professor,鈥� Long said. 

But once he started his education classes with the middle grades class of 2021, Long fit right in.

鈥淚t might have been a lot harder if I had not had the group of students I was with,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been real close the last two years. We all talk to each other regularly. If someone has a problem, if someone is upset, if someone needs something as simple as a ride or a meal, we鈥檝e taken care of each other.鈥�

That鈥檚 not to say, however, that the group doesn鈥檛 give Long a ribbing from time to time.

鈥淭hey get their jokes in,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淭hey have had their dad jokes, and they get their jabs in. But for the most part they treated me like everyone else. Some of my classmates would come over and eat with me, my daughter and wife. It gave them a family here while they were away from their homes.鈥�

For Long鈥檚 final teaching placement, he served as an 8th grade social studies teacher at Southeast Bulloch Middle School in Brooklet, Georgia, where he has accepted a full-time position starting this fall. Looking back, Long says he has no doubt he made the right decision.

鈥淒uring the last part of my career, I dealt a lot with high schoolers who, by the time they reached me, had already made choices that were going to negatively impact their lives forever,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 felt that with middle schoolers, I could start helping earlier to catch them at an age where I could help the ones who needed to be helped.鈥�

As Long graduates this week, he also hopes to explore coaching during his teaching career.

鈥淲ith teaching and coaching, I am still serving the community like I was during my career with law enforcement,鈥� said Long. 鈥淏ut now, I get to interact with children to create a positive atmosphere, and it鈥檚 so rewarding.鈥�