School Resource Officer Takes Second-Grader Without Dad to Father-Daughter Dance

An Arkansas school resource officer has gone viral for taking a second-grader whose dad passed away to her school’s father-daughter dance.

Avey Cox says she had always dreamed of going to the father-daughter dance, but when her dad passed away, she did not think she would ever be able to go.

That is when Van Buren school resource officer Nick Harvey stepped in. His chief reached out to his fellow officers and suggested they act as volunteers for students without fathers, KFSM reported.

“I reached out to the mother, the last thing I wanted was to get rejected by a second-grader, and then the next day I formally asked if she’d be my date to the daddy/daughter dance,” Harvey said.

Avey said yes, and both made sure to coordinate their outfits, take pictures, and ride in a limousine to get pizza before going to the event.

“It meant a lot because I got to go and see all my friends there, and then I got to go with them and have a lot of fun,” Avey said.

Harvey says it was a night with lots of memories made both on and off the dance floor.

“I embarrassed myself a little bit…I can’t dance at all,” he said.

Avey said the dance moves were her favorite part of the night.

At the end of the night, the group went out for ice cream, and Avey went home with a police car escort.

Harvey says he hopes to make taking Avey to the father-daughter dance a yearly tradition from now on.