08/14/2015 - School Resource Officer adopts "unadoptable" student

Spartanburg School District 6 recently created a video to celebrate all of its school resource officers, and in it, you'll see one officer with a touching story.

Spartanburg School District 6 recently created a video to celebrate all of its school resource officers, and in it, you'll see one officer with a touching story.

District 6 was the first school district in Spartanburg County to employ resource officers in all of its schools, following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut in 2012.

Master Deputy Mike Gibson with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office worked at the district's Child Development Center when he was off duty. Ultimately, he got the opportunity to become the school's full time resource officer.

"They see us in a different light than they see us just being somebody that carries a gun and puts people in jail," Gibson told WYFF News 4's Mike McCormick. "Here they get to see us as part of the school and they get to learn, 'Hey, the police are our friends.'"

Gibson had no idea that his family would change when he joined District 6's.

"That's just something that God put in my path," Gibson said.

It all started when Gibson had to write a report about a young student who'd been abused.

"When I saw him, it was just something tugged at my heart. I said, 'I can help this child,'" Gibson said.

Gibson told his wife, Kimber, about the boy.

"He said, 'In all my years in law enforcement, I've never felt led to do something, but I feel like God's telling me that we can help this one.' So, I was on board," Kimber said.

In 2014, the couple went through months of classes to get certified to become the boy's foster parents.

"Some of the workers that we spoke to, told us he was an unadoptable child because of his behavior issues," Kimber said.

When the boy's parents' parental rights were terminated, the Gibsons, who already had three children, adopted him.

"(My husband) said that during his time in law enforcement, he never truly knew if he had the opportunity to save someone's life. With (this little boy), we know he's changed somebody's life. He's changed ours more than we changed his," Kimber said. "It's one of the most rewarding things that we've ever done. We've got a full house now. I told him he can't bring any more home."

Their new son, who's now 6, was recently named a "Terrific Kid" at his school.

"Between us, his stability at home, and the stability he had in the class, he was able to literally thrive," Gibson said.

"He's as normal and sweet as any child you'd ever meet. It's amazing what one year of love and stability did in his life," Kimber said.

Watch Spartanburg District 6's YouTube video about school resource officers here.

 STORY WRITTEN BY: MIKE MCCORMICK, COPYRIGHT WYFF.