Sgt. Tim Gividen has been a staple with the Carrollton Police Department and Carroll County Schools for many years. His impact on his hometown, adults and students he has encountered will be far-reaching.
He has been such a positive force at Carroll County Middle School that 10 different teachers nominated him recently for the Regional School Resource Officer of the Year award. He will be presented with the award on June 11 at the annual Safe Schools & Communities Conference. A number of district staff will attend the conference and be in his cheering section when he accepts the honor.
“We appreciate SRO Gividen's commitment to Carroll County Schools. This award demonstrates his passion and care for the students, families, faculty and staff of CCMS,” said Carroll County Schools Superintendent Casey Jaynes.
Gividen was hand-picked to become the first full-time School Resource Officer, according to Carrollton Police Department Chief Mike Willhoite. “When we began this partnership with the Carroll County School District he was hand-picked to become our first full time SRO. His personality and approachability made him a natural fit to be able to foster positive relationships with the students,” Willhoite said.
Gividen, who is known for his big smile that makes his eyes disappear, said he didn’t know he was nominated until he attended the School Resource Officer board meeting. He has served on the board for some time and spotted his name among the nominees when he attended the recent board meeting.
“I was shocked,” he said. “It made me feel pretty good and it seems I’m doing something right.”
He recalled that CCMS physical education teacher Ryan Laswell asked him about the award and, Gividen believes, he began the push to get him nominated for the Regional SRO of the Year award.
Gividen is not only known to enforce the rules fairly at CCMS, he’s also known to be a good sounding board and supporter to the students and staff. It’s common for many students to stop by his office in the main hallway multiple times a day to say hi or talk through a problem with him. They know his door is always open.
A number of those students have made a point to congratulate him and tell him the award is well-deserved, an atypical gesture for middle schoolers that is not lost on Gividen.
“Officer Gividen consistently goes above and beyond by fostering a safe and supportive environment and building strong relationships with our students, staff, and families,” said CCMS Principal Dr. Robin Stephenson. 
Sgt. Gividen has walked through a lot of changes with CCMS and sees the future as being very bright for the school and its students. He began his SRO career in 2016 after serving 17 years as a patrol officer for the Carrollton Police Department. In his first year, he was the sole school resource officer in the district. Today, each school has its own school resource officer and Gividen is their sergeant.
“We are the only school in this region that has an SRO in every school,” he said. “The district has really worked with the city government and made sure there was enough money to have all the SRO’s.”
Willhoite praised Gividen’s work as an SRO, noting the department is very proud of Gividen and the well-deserved honor he will receive. Not only has he mentored students at CCMS and developed positive relationships with students and staff, Willhoite said Gividen has been an excellent supervisor and mentor to the other School Resource Officers in the district.
Those who have helped him along the way and impacted him are too many to name, according to the seasoned SRO. He always has his sights set on keeping students and staff safe.
“We want to be ahead of the state in safety and I think we are doing that,” he said. Gividen has one more goal for CCMS and that’s to have safety film applied to every window and door in the building. The safety film could give first responders minutes to react to a threat and potentially save untold numbers of lives.
“It’s been a really good year,” he said following a reception at CCMS. A number of staff and students wrote notes of thanks and congratulations to Gividen.