Career Day Series - School Resource Officer

Officer Lyons, our School Resource Officer, came in to talk to our School News Club so
we can learn more about becoming a Police Officer.

What is your job?

I am currently in the role of Master Police Officer with Virginia Beach Police Dept
as a School Resource Officer for Larkspur Middle School. I also serve 3 elementary
schools - Windsor Woods, Windsor Oaks, and Kempsville Meadows Elementary
School. The schools I am responsible for sometimes change, but those are the
schools I currently work with.

What do you do on a average day at work?

I mostly work at Larkspur Middle School which is one of the largest middle school
in Virginia Beach. My day starts in the bus loop, making sure the students exit the
buses correctly and patrol the school throughout the day and in the afternoon. I
check in with the four assistant principals and the security staff to see if anything
is going on as far as parent problems, parking problems, or student problems. If
any students are getting expelled, they will give me a heads up so that I can help
with that. Last week when we had the student walk out they wanted my help with
that so that students were kept safe and didn’t leave the school grounds.

If any crimes are committed at school, usually small things like cell phones
getting lost or stolen - mostly lost - I have to take a report for that and make sure
that procedures are followed correctly.  

   

How did you learn to do your job?

First, I went to the Police Academy which is six months long. I had to learn to
shoot guns, do arrests, learned defensive tactics, learn to take someone down
safely, investigate crimes like assaults and larcenies, to have a basic understanding
of that. Physical fitness is important so we do a lot of running at the Police
Academy. And we write a lot of reports so writing is very important. You have to know a lot about the law because citizens have rights and you have to know
those so that you don’t violate those rights - even as juveniles. We also learn how
to interact with people and keep them safe.

What inspired you to take part in this job?

I was active duty military for 12 years, and in the military I was a helicopter
pilot. I joined the police academy in the hopes of being a helicopter pilot
for the police department, but that didn’t work out. But several members of
my family are police officers - my sister is a police sergeant in New York, and
my brother is also a police officer in New York. My son is a police officer in the
Navy - called a Master at Arms and my daughter was in the Air Force, but is in
law school now and graduates next month to be a lawyer in the Navy - a JAG
officer. So the law is kind of surrounding me.

Why do you like your job?

I get to help people. I get to work with kids a lot which is kind of a relief. I get to
help them out while they’re young and still like us. Many times as people get
older they tend to not like police officers so much or they think they’re a snitch
or not cool. But it’s fun around elementary students because they still like us and
want to be us. They shake our hands and say hi or give us a high five.

What is the best/worst part of your job?

Working with kids is fun, interacting with you, answering your questions and
inspiring you to do different things. Helping students that need help not just
at school, but with their families.

The worst part is seeing kids being abused or dying. Seeing kids at the morgue
- either from natural causes or through abuse is hard. We have help with that
though. Volunteer chaplains will come out and help us talk with the families.

What is your favorite tool?

My radio, because it can do a lot of things. Call people, ask for help, let people
know where you are. It has a tracker so the department can know where you are.

Have you ever been a part of an internal lockdown?

Not a real one. I’ve done a few practice ones, a few false alarms. We’ve
had a few bank robberies in the area and we’ve locked down the schools to
keep them secure as we searched for the bank robbers.

Career Day Series - Salon Manager

Our School News Club interviewed Mrs.Chafin to find out about her new job.

What is your job?

My job is as a salon manager.

What do you do on a average day at work?

On an average day at work, I make sure that the employees are on time and
ready to work and make sure I’m on time too. I make sure that the salon is ready
for all the clients coming in and that might mean some kind of housekeeping stuff
like sweeping and wiping things down making sure towels for the stylists are clean
and ready for them to shampoo. I turn on all the lights, get all the computers ready for
the program so that I check people in and out. A really big job is a financial job. To
make sure that the money is all counted and it’s all there and nothing was taken
from the night before. So that’s a really big job to have. I kind of on a daily basis
need to make sure my attitude is right and positive because when people come in
to want to get their hair done or make up done, we want them to feel really comfortable
and make sure I’m always smiling and I’m dressed in a fun way and very professional
way so that everyone feels comfortable.

How did you learn to do your job?

I think being a school counselor really helped with customer service skills
- how to talk to people, to handle problem-solving because there is a lot of
that that goes on. How to work in a team but also work on my own. So that helped.
But then going into a salon I had never done that before - so the owners of the salon
really helped me out and they’ve been giving me some advice and I go to them with
suggestions that they had never thought of. I’ve learned a lot but I’m teaching some
too, so that’s really nice.

What inspired you to take part in this job?

For so many years I’ve been helping kids and people feel good from the inside out
- emotional help. Then I started looking on my computer at a site called Pinterest at
hair and clothes and make-up a lot and I was doing less looking for educational
things. I took the career survey that I did with the kids and Fashion Designer kept
coming up. It was a long process to make the decision but it was one of those loves
that I had always had.

Why do you like your job?

I like it because it’s doing something that I have always had a passion to do that I’ve
always been interested to do. I miss what I used to do, but it’s nice to build new
memories. If I move on to something else, having salon manager is really good
experience.

What is the best/worst part of your job?

Remember how I was saying that I was helping people feel good from the inside
out. This job is not about feeling pretty. My shirt says flawless but it’s not about
being perfect. We all have plenty of beautiful flaws. I really wanted to help people
feel good on the outside, because I know when I want to leave a place and someone
is giving me an opportunity with new shoes, a new top or a new hair do, I feel
refreshed.The best part is making people feel good. It felt really good doing that
here at the elementary school but now I get to do it in a new fashion way. People
walk out feeling good and feeling more confidence. The best part is seeing people
more confident and feeling good.

The worst part is having to fire people that don’t know how to work right! I’ve had
to do that a lot. These are people I didn’t even hire. They weren’t calling in to tell
us they weren’t coming in or coming on time and as a manager I had to make those
decisions about is this best for the salon. A lot of time’s it’s not. It’s very challenging
to do without hurting their feelings. But I know it’s for the better of the salon.

Career Day Series - Head Day Custodian

As a part of Career Day Newspaper Club interviewed our Head Custodian Mr. Chris
to learn more about his job.

               

What is your job?

My job is to make sure that the school is ready for business everyday.

What do you do on a average day at work?

My average day of cleaning is spills, bathrooms, and codes. We won’t go into codes
- a code 4 is blood on the floor. Now you just have to think about the other codes.

How did you learn to do your job?

I learned this job from my mother. My mother did this job at a church. I used to go to
work with her and help her. I helped her do her job.

What inspired you to take part in this job?

It’s a long, long story. When I first started with the school system 3 years ago at
Christopher Farms, seeing how other head day custodians ran their school.
Everyone runs their school differently. That inspired me to become a day supervisor.

Why do you like your job?

I like my job because I get to be around the students and it’s fun.

What is the best/worst part of your job?

The best part of my job is the kids - being around the students and the staff.
The worst part of my job is when a someone doesn’t come to work because it
makes everybody else’s job twice as hard.