As one of the two female security guards, Tajane White is able to connect with the student body while protecting our school. She began working for the security department in 2022 and has since become a friend and resource for many different students.
Tajane White has spent her life chasing something she couldn’t quite name. From Montgomery County to Ohio to Hawaii, then Seattle and back again. “I’ve always been on the move,” she said. “It’s really hard for me to sit still.”
It wasn’t the security guard position that drew her here. White doesn’t have a degree, so teaching was out of reach. Her younger sister worked security in the county and helped her get in.
What keeps her here is different. Before this, White worked at a daycare with infants and toddlers. She loved them, but she says the younger children couldn’t understand what she was trying to tell them, and couldn’t absorb the lessons she wanted to share. “I always had a love for working with kids and helping the youth,” she said. “High schoolers are more independent—it just felt like the right next step.”
Her day starts early, monitoring hallways and helping students get to class on time. During the day and lunch, she checks passes and steps in whenever someone needs to cool down or talk. “Lunch is definitely my favorite part of the day,” she said. “I love when the kids come and sit by me and tell me about their day—whether it’s good or bad. It’s not always serious, and I love that we can just laugh together too.”
“I secure the buildings, I make sure that the kids feel safe and secure,” White said. “But I also check on the kids, make sure they’re feeling okay, check in with parents—really just a bunch of everything in the school.”
Over time, the job has bloomed into something much more meaningful. “It’s not just stopping fights,” she said. “We do more to prevent fights than we do to break them up. We talk to everyone involved, hear their sides, and find a way to resolve it.”
Her love for connecting with and talking to kids has made White a safe presence in the RM community, where students feel comfortable talking to her about their day. “I just love being there for the kids,” White said. “When they feel comfortable enough to talk to me or joke around, that’s when I know I’m doing my job right.”
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