Talon Taylor comes full circle

Talon Taylor, Cape graduate of 2005 and Air Force veteran, has led an interesting journey in the course of his 29 years, a journey that ultimately led him back to Cape Henlopen Schools.

Although Talon did not play basketball for Cape, he earned a basketball scholarship at Delaware Technical Community College.  He played intramural basketball and the coach from Del Tech saw him play on an All Star intramural team and offered Talon a scholarship a few days later.

Therefore, in the fall of 2005, Talon attended Del Teach where he began to pursue a degree in psychology and education while playing basketball.

During his initial years in college, he worked hard both on the court and off in order to maintain a high grade point average.  But after transferring to the Staton campus, Talon chose to pursue other opportunities.

He elected to join the Air Force Reserve searching for new ventures.  He landed at Dover Air Force Base where he worked as a C5 mechanic.

In September of 2014, Talon decided that he would join the police force in Milton.  He was hired by the Milton Police Department and immediately began training at the Delaware State Police Academy.  Unique to Delaware, a candidate must be hired by a precinct prior to entering the academy.

Talon endured 22 weeks of rigorous physical and mental training and after passing both an aptitude and physical tests; he graduated in February of 2015.

He clearly recalls his first day on the job as he responded to a “domestic incident” and therefore was immediately initiated into the ranks of the police department.

Since that time, included in Talon’s “beat” are three Cape schools-H.O. Brittingham Elementary, Milton Elementary and Mariner Middle School.

As I walked through the halls of HOB with Talon one morning, it became immediately clear that the staff and the children all love and respect Talon.

Students approached him for high fives and hellos, teachers welcomed him into their classrooms.  Since Talon attended HOB, he fondly recalls many things about the school.

He remembers an important life lesson from his 3^rd grade teacher, Mrs. Eisenhower who did not like children to address people with the term, “hey”.  She would always respond, “hay is for horses.”  This stuck with Talon to this day.

In addition, the library that we walked through seemed huge to young Talon and now he is amazed at how small everything seems.  He notices daily that not much has changed physically at HOB since he attended school there, nor has the idea that HOB is a tight knit school who has students’ best interests in mind.  He is once again part of this community.

Teachers greatly influenced and motivated Talon throughout his educational journey.  He credits his success to both Cape and Sussex Tech teachers; however, he clearly recalls a few.   Mrs. Gretchen Wyshock, his physical education teacher at CHHS is still beloved and he still is in contact with her.

Talon sees Mariner Middle School’s language arts teacher, Heather Kindle almost daily and she was one of his favorite middle school teachers.

In addition to CHSD teachers, both Mrs. Forcucci and Mr. Sell shaped Talon’s future.

Talon mentions “a lot of teachers had an impact on me in some way shape or form”.  Certainly for this, we as community thank them.  Talon Taylor has grown into a very successful and respected young man of whom we are “Cape Proud”.

Please visit our Cape Henlopen Educational Foundation (CHEF) website at www.chef-cape.org to learn more about CHEF’s educational partnership with the Cape school district.  We invite the entire community to help us achieve our mission of preparing students for a healthy, productive life in a diverse global community.