BARTOW, Fla. — Alexander Guzman is the school resource officer at Bartow High School. He's also a huge fan of the Disney TV series, "The Mandalorian."
"The Mandalorian, he is a protector, he is the person that takes care of baby Yoda in that series. So to me, I'm the Mandalorian on campus, I'm the protector of all the kids on campus," said Officer Guzman.
So, when Officer Guzman decided to remodel his office on campus, he searched the galaxy for the right person to complete the mission.
Hannah Mann is in eleventh grade at Bartow High and volunteered for the job.
"So I was talking to Officer Guzman, while he was in his little golf cart, I was talking to him about my artwork. And he told me about how he had an opportunity that he was getting a new office, and he wanted to get his office painted," explains Mann.
Mann's really talented. She knew she could do the job but proving it to Officer Guzman was tough.
"I was like, hey, if we do this, if you do this, I want this done with excellence. That way, when people say who drew this, they know, hey, it's Hannah, and you're from Bartow High School," explained Guzman.
Within 24 hours, Mann had a rough draft.
"I looked online at different things about the Mandalorian, " explained Mann. "I came up with ideas, and then I drew that out."
It got a "yes" from Officer Guzman and Hannah went to work.
"I spent about a whole week before Christmas break in here working on this wall, it took me about 17 hours in all," explained Mann.
She customized the mural for her school, making sure to add the Bartow High School Yellow Jacket. Along the way, the artwork provided the framework for a sweet friendship.
"From day one to the last day, when she completed it, I learned something new about the student, learned a lot about the student I even did a background research on the student checked her grades and everything," Officer Guzman said.
"At one point, I saw that her grades were not to my expectations," explained Officer Guzman. "So I pulled her out of my office, I said, hey, look, let's pause what you're doing. I need you to make contact with your teachers, and let's get your grades up. And instantly, she made contact with her teachers got her grades up to par. And by the end of the week, she had A's and B's."
"Now I have all A's," Mann added.
"She's never gonna forget, I'm never gonna forget this 20 years down line, like, hey, that young lady who drew that mural, and she's never gonna forget the hey, that officer who kept me in check," said Officer Guzman.
"It was just a huge honor to get to represent Bartow High School, and to get to do something like this for them," Mann said.
