Kare11
Tutu-wearing school officer uses humor to connect with students
WILLMAR, Minn. — The uniformed police officer at the high school entrance stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 265 pounds.
His hair is cut close to his scalp.
His badge glistens in the morning sun.
James Venenga strikes an imposing figure.
Imposing to everyone but his students.
“We call him Officer Kupcake,” ninth-grader Emma Fuentes says.
Students deliver the soft and sweet moniker without a hint of derision.
“You’ve got to embrace it,” the 48-year-old officer said. “I’m not going to lie, most of them don’t know my real name.”
What they do know is his penchant for oversized glasses, feather boas, and ballet tutus worn just below his gun and taser.
“Am I different?” Venenga — adorned in a rainbow mohawk — asks student Yasmi Dillard-Ramirez.
She nods and smiles knowingly.
“It’s comfortable,” Dillard-Ramirez says of her relationship with her school’s resource officer. “He’s just so crazy and out there. He’s an easy person to open up to.”
Willmar’s Alternative Learning Center, where Venenga works, is the educational home, primarily, for students who’ve struggled in a traditional high school setting.
The school’s principal, Andy Gregory, says Venenga’s non-traditional approach to policing is a perfect fit. “His ability to grow relationships with kids that struggle, it’s phenomenal, it’s amazing.”
Venenga says his first duty is keeping students and school staff safe, but the fart gun on his office shelf suggests he’s armed for any eventuality.
“There’s times to be serious,” Venenga says. “The other 95 percent, I can be me.”
Being him means Venenga has cited students for traffic and other offenses who’ve then stopped at this office a week later looking for advice as they navigate the legal system.
“You don’t have to be one of the people that’s in your face. That’s not how I roll. I’m the opposite of that,” Venenga says.
On a recent Monday morning, Venenga spread ice melt on a slippery sidewalk before helping a student cross a wide puddle in her path on the way to school.
One day, Venenga might make and serve students a pancake breakfast as a reward for showing up to school on time.
On another, he’ll allow students to style his hair in exchange for good school performance.
“He’s built different,” student Jacob Reyes says after catching a glimpse of Venenga in his tutu and a blonde wig.
“Cops have, like, a reputation,” Reyes says. “But then there’s Kupcake.”
Paraprofessional Sharon Rambow simply mentioned to Venenga her desire to cover a doorless closet in her classroom. “And he said, ‘I’ll sew you a curtain.’”
Rambow snapped a photo of the officer sitting at a table with fabric, a needle and thread in her room.
“There’s kids that come in here with broken backpacks and he will sew them up. He’ll sew buttons on for kids,” Rambo says.
But can a soft-centered officer known as Kupcake still be an effective disciplinarian?
“I’ve seen very few kids test the boundaries,” Principal Gregory says, “and the ones that do test the boundaries, he’s able to let them know where the line is without letting them know where the line is authoritatively, which is a skill in itself.”
At lunchtime, Venenga can be found playing ping pong with students in the cafeteria. At one point, he slips into the hall with a student whose behavior has crossed a line.
“Hey!” Venenga says to the student firmly enough to get his attention. “You can’t be talking that way.”
Gregory says Venenga’s silly side doesn’t impede his ability to rein in bad behavior. In fact, he says, it enhances it.
“He’s a master at de-escalating situations. I don’t even know if I could use intimidation in the same sentence with him,” Gregory says.
Venenga spends each Friday at Willmar’s Kennedy Elementary School, the source of a series of drawings he’s hung on his office wall.
In bright colors, a third grader has drawn pictures of the policeman she’s labeled “Officer Cupcake” dressed in various costumes, including his signature tutu.
“When you look at that, does that say, ‘I’m scared of the police?’” Venenge asks.
“No,” he says, answering his own question. “So, am I doing my job? Yes. That’s the whole goal.”
Boyd Huppert is always looking for great stories to share in the Land of 10,000 Stories! Send us your suggestions by filling out this form.
Watch the latest videos from the Land of 10,000 Stories in our YouTube playlist and subscribe to the Land of 10,000 Stories Complete Collection on YouTube.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
Several fans said this team has inspired them to pursue a career in sports.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx is inspiring the next generation of athletes regardless of whether they win or lose.
Sophia Witkowski went to the game with her mother, Christy, to watch Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
“For her to see all her idols it’s just so fun,” Christy said.
“I like it because women’s sports aren’t that popular. Now the WNBA is really popular,” Sophia said.
They weren’t the only mother-and-daughter duo at the game. Amanda Williams took her 10-year-old daughter Abby to watch.
“It’s really awesome to have my daughter here to see great role models from the team and the fact,” Amanda said.
“I think that it’s super cool that they get to do what they want to do, and they get paid for it too,” Abby said.
Maggie Niska with Her Next Play, a nonprofit working to empower the next generation of female leaders through sports, said their visibility is everything.
“I think it gives these girls someone to look up to, and it gives them something to aspire to, and by having them in the community it makes seem a little more reachable too,” Niska said.
She said the Lynx Academy put on a basketball clinic for some of her girls in Hopkins Tuesday night. Niska said all of the professional women’s sports teams in Minnesota show girls they can have a future in sports.
“I just think that any visibility these girls can get to women competing at sports at a higher level, hearing these women speak, and seeing them succeed, and getting insight into their lives and what they do to compete at this higher level, I think all of that serves as a great inspiration to these girls,” she said.
It’s something Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve understands well.
“For young girls to see the opportunities for them to play in any sport and then also more in sport, jobs in sports that sports can be a career,” Reeve said.
Sophia Ritter and Taylor Tool drove hours to see the players in action.
“We traveled from Aberdeen, South Dakota and the Northern State women’s basketball team took two vans,” she said.
Ritter and Tool both said it was a cool opportunity for them to see two great teams play on the professional level.
“Growing up, WNBA wasn’t really a big a thing and something that everyone was watching and now that it’s growing it’s really nice to see,” Ritter said.
“It’s really fun seeing all the support and seeing how many people come to watch the games like it’s really cool to see all the fans in the stands filling up and it’s growing,” Tool said.
Gophers’ Shoot Guard Mara Braun went to the game with her team after practice.
“These women out here are just amazingly talented and they play with this toughness that I think we’re really trying to embody as a team,” Braun said.
She knows young girls are looking up to her and her teammates just like they are with the Lynx.
“Especially growing up, you know, you want to play college basketball, and the next level is WNBA or overseas or whatever it is, so for me this is obviously a dream and something I’m working towards to be able to see it,” she said.
Braun dreams of playing in the WNBA and watching the Lynx and the Liberty in the finals makes that dream feel like it could be her new reality.
The department is the only one in the state to start a non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The City of St. Paul has seen a number of deadly shootings recently, but often it’s the ones that aren’t fatal that don’t get as much attention. And for police, they can also be harder to solve.
The department, though, is trying something new to try and reverse that trend.
“The amount of guns that are on the street right now,” St. Paul Police Commander Nikkole Peterson said about the biggest change she’s seen in the 22 years she’s been a cop. “It’s jaw-dropping.”
Commander Peterson is now in charge of the department’s non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January focusing only on those crimes.
It’s the only department in the state implementing something like that, after it saw success with the police department in Denver, Colorado doing something similar.
“If there’s a shooting, it doesn’t matter what time of night that happens or time of day, that sergeant will get called in to begin the investigation immediately,” said Commander Peterson.
The crime used to fall on the homicide unit that’s already burdened by heavy case loads. There’s also usually little victim cooperation which can stall solving non-fatal shootings.
“A lot of times we wouldn’t investigate it any further or the prosecutor wouldn’t charge those crimes and we knew that something different had to be done,” said Commander Peterson.
The unit is now treating non-fatal shootings like homicides and making them a priority. The investigators also rely more heavily on evidence and devote just as many resources, from forensics to video management and even SWAT teams.
“We are utilizing all these different resources to help solve these crimes,” said Commander Peterson. “We’re chasing down every lead that we can.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said there have been 86 non-fatal shootings compared to 99 this same time last year. But two years ago, there were 170, putting the city’s solve rate around 60%.
“Anything above 50% is just incredible and so we’re really happy with where we’re at right now,” said Commander Peterson.
Commander Peterson also credits the city’s ASPIRE program that focuses on intervention, particularly with youth. She also points to the Office of Neighborhood Safety that partners with local organizations working on prevention, saying this cooperation is ultimately what will reduce crime.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings