Officer Thaddeus Kerkhoff felt left out during “Coffee with the Cops.”

The open-house program hosted at various coffee shops was designed so community members could better communicate with Renton police officers and was a large success.

But as the School Resource Officer stationed at Renton High School, Kerkhoff was unable to attend any of the gatherings. So he decided to make his own version of the program for the students he was serving. And instead of coffee, Kerkhoff was giving free pizza during Wednesday lunch periods.

He called it “Pizza with the Popo.”

“I was new here and I wanted to get an opportunity to get to know the students here, and give them an opportunity to get to know me,” he said. “Since they can’t leave campus to get coffee, I came up with this… we didn’t know how it would go, but it’s been awesome and fun to get to know students.”

For the past six weeks, students come to eat free pizza and chat with Kerkhoff about anything they want, including police training, K-9s, and even his personal life. On average, 30 to 40 students show up each week to these gatherings.

“I see a lot of these students in passing, either during lunch or in the hallways, so they don’t get an opportunity to talk to me or ask a question,” he said. “So this provides environment to do that. If it’s police-related or about me, I can tell them. We talk about my puppy or my kids, stuff like that.

“I always tell these kids that my life is an open book. I’m on social media and I have nothing to hide. It gives them an opportunity to see who I am… and I get to learn about them, their families, their life and what’s going on with them,” he added. “It’s a deeper bond and relationship for all of us.”

It’s undetermined whether this program will continue next semester, but Kerkhoff would like to see it become permanent.