Two new security guards join the TJ staff.
by Katie Bone
With the many changes at TJ for the 2008-2009 school year, perhaps two of the most visible are the new Spartan security guards, Dan Lawrence and Celina Ulibarry, who join veteran Woody Bonner.
“The security staff is responsible for the safety and security of students and staff,” said Athletic Director, Lani Nobles. So naturally when former security guards, James Nixon and Zunta Young left, the school felt the loss. Nixon left to coach at a small college in Kansas, and Young left halfway through last year due to a family problem that required her to move to Texas.
Schools that are TJ’s size require at least three security guards to maintain order in the building, so the task of filling the two spots fell to Nobles. “I asked the DPS Campus Security Training Program for the best and the brightest they had,” said Nobles, and she believes they have obliged.
Dan Lawrence comes to us as a retired police officer and military man, his chosen career for 23 years. “We were lucky to receive such a qualified, if not over-qualified, person,” said Nobles. Lawrence was assigned to TJ because it was the most convenient location for the Castle Rock resident. Already, he gets along with the whole staff and enforces policies that he believes shouldn’t be overlooked.
“People are disrespectful because they don’t respect themselves,” Lawrence believes. Surprisingly, he also believes that this position is more difficult than his previous one. “The hardest part about my job is the kids who just don’t want to be at school,” he says.
Celina Ulibarry works as a security guard here at TJ while going to school to become a teacher, herself. She originally wanted to become a high school teacher, but after working in a high school, she has decided that perhaps she is more suited for elementary school education. She worked at a summer camp, and like Lawrence she feels that this job is both more enjoyable and more challenging.
“We’re going to be really happy with them, I think. I’m happy with them already,” commented Nobles.
