A Kansas City program to help at-risk teens celebrated graduation Thursday. The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department puts on the Teens in Transition program each summer. KMBC 9 found out how it's working to reduce violence, and why one mother says she believes the program saves lives. As Parker Witt received his certificate, it was a moment not only significant for the Central High School student, but also for his mom.“I'm so proud of him, trying not to get emotional speaking about it, but man,” said Laura Jackson. She surprised her son by showing up to celebrate his graduation from the Teens in Transition program, which she says has had an immense impact.“I feel like he was in a place where he was either going to go left or right,” she said. “It really has changed his life.”Parker and around 20 other teens spent eight weeks at the program run by school resource officers, like Holly Zornes.“Ultimately, our job is to prevent them from either being a statistic or also from becoming part of the criminal system,” said Zornes, who works as an SRO at Central High School. During the program, teens learn life skills from career advice to how to resolve conflict peacefully.“If someone’s going to try to get you in a fight or try to, like, push your buttons, just walk away,” said sophomore Parker Witt, “because usually they just want attention or just wanna pick on you just ‘cause, so just walk away. Leave that alone.”“Just maybe stepping away and taking a break from the situation,” said senior Phillip Conway. “It’ll help way more than you just lashing out and then getting into a fight or escalating into something that could be way worse for you and the other person.”“It’s all about the choices that you make, not what other people make for you,” said junior Eliana Zamora. “You have control over what you wanna do.”Zornes says in her role, she’s seen escalating violence can have tragic consequences.“We, unfortunately, have youth that don’t come back to us on Monday because they’ve lost their lives in the street to violence,” she said, “or they’ve been a part of that violence that has not allowed them to come back because they may be in a juvenile detention center.”Jackson says that's a big concern of hers as a mother, with too many young lives lost.“You know, that's really, really hard every day waking up every morning and wanting not to watch the news ‘cause you don't know what’s gonna happen,” she said.She believes this program will save lives, giving teens like her son the tools and the confidence to thrive.“I feel like some people just need an extra person to be like, ‘hey, I got you, I believe in you,’” she said.Zornes says the program also helps teens see police in a different light.“We want to show them that they have support beyond their house, that they have support beyond the school district, but they also have support in the police department,” she said.“You'll get to know that all police officers aren't bad,” said Conway. “There are some really good ones that actually care about you.”“We want to see them graduate. We want to see them be successful in life,” said Zornes, “and that is the ultimate goal for us.”Teens in transition has been around for more than 20 years. It's a collaboration between KCPD, Arts Tech KC, the Kansas City, Missouri Mayor's Office and the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.