When fights happen or trouble occurs, there are only a few people that are have specialized training to handle the situation. These are the people whose only job is to make sure that students are safe.

Head hall monitor Lester Banks’ main job is to make sure that all of the students, faculty and staff are on the same page for security. Banks consistently walks up and down the halls checking for one thing: that students are in class and are staying out of trouble.

“You would be amazed how many kids have actually walked up to me and thanked me for making a difference in their life and helping them stay out of trouble,” Banks said. “That is what I am about, I am not about the paycheck.”

Banks also makes sure that students get on the bus, take care of dress code issues and the keeps the parking lots safe and orderly.

Banks says he is here strictly for the kids, after he himself attended Bryan High in the early 80’s.

“I have always had a dream that I wanted to come back one day and give back to my community, kids have always been my pride and joy,” Banks said. “I want to be the one that makes a difference in someone’s life.”

Student Resource Officers (SROs) also aid in keeping the school safe and make sure students behave. Officer Haynes is part of the Bryan Police Department, but spends most of his time on campus as an SRO.

“I have worked off-duty up here with a number of students before I actually started working here,” Officer Haynes said. “I said to myself, ‘I actually enjoy working with kids’, and at that time, I just decided that I was ready for something new.”

Haynes enjoys being the officer that isn’t thought of as intimidating, but as the officer students feel is approachable.

“There are some students that have graduated and I still talk to them,”Haynes said, “simply because of the contact I had with them when they were younger, making sure they stay out of trouble.”

Haynes believes that the school is as safe as it can be, but stays vigilant and always patrols outside or in a hallway, watching for anything out of the ordinary.

“We do our best to communicate with the hall monitors, teachers and staff, whatever we see, we share that information with each other,” Haynes said. “It is all about communication, and we try to do our best.”

Though the SROs and hall monitors may look intimidating, the only reason they are here is for the students. Each day, they come to school with the hope that they will make a difference in one student’s life.