At the beginning of the school year, students walked into a school with new computer labs, new tables and chairs in the upper atrium, and new administration. Along with these and many other changes that were made at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, Normal West now utilizes two security monitors Erik Jurich and Tonja Piercy.

Watching the halls, these monitors are there to ensure students get to class on time, don’t linger in the hallways or other areas, ensure the school’s doors are all locked and safe for students, and many other tasks. The main goal of the security monitors is making sure students follow the school rules and make the most of their time at school.

In order to assist the security monitors, teachers have been asked to limit time out of class without a pass. The most common place to find students skipping class is the bathrooms according to security monitor, Erik Jurich.

“In the beginning, it’s difficult as teachers aren’t used to giving out passes all the time when letting students leave class. Even so, it’s still obvious which students should be in the halls in which students shouldn’t be based on body language. As school goes on it would be great if teachers could improve upon giving out passes regularly,” said Jurich.

Some teachers are still struggling to make the adjustment to giving out passes all the time, other teachers were quick to find a solution to this problem. Teachers like Mrs. Geisleman made passes that can be used during every hour in her art classes. She said, “It’s helped a lot. Students can come up and ask and I can just point to the pass and they can take what they need. I don’t have to stop what I’m doing to write a pass”.

Premade passes are something Mr. Jurich supports. He said, “the easier to spot the better, but I still know who to look out for”. Teachers are now using passes such as sticks, clipboards or laminated slips as reusable passes.

As teachers and security monitors work to get their communication system down, administration staff remains hopeful that this will help lower the rate of skipping and tardiness to classes and a better over all school environment. “So far this year has been good, but it’s still too soon to tell” said Mrs. Nikolanci.

Students may complain that they feel they are being watched and that school will be less fun, but ultimately the school security monitors are there to keep students’ safety in mind. The security monitors are just one of the many things the school has added this year to make the 2018-2019 school year great.