Roger Casanova is one of the many security guards on campus who spend their days keeping students safe and enforcing school rules. You may know him from seeing him riding his bike around campus, chatting with the other security guards during brunch or maybe from that one time he caught you trying to sneak off campus freshman year.  

It is important to remember that he was once in high school too, and wants to use his experiences to help the students. Casanova explains that this is his favorite part about his job.

“My favorite [part] is coming here and doing my best to have a good impact on the students and to help them out as far as guiding them in whatever questions they have for me and just have a positive impact on them,” Casanova said.

Casanova enjoyed his high school experience and describes himself as being a bit of a class clown. He can relate to the students which makes him want to help them even more.

“There’s a couple kids that I see the way I grew up and I see a little bit of me in them,” Casanova said. “So I try to let them know hey, you know, if you continue down this road, things like this could happen.”

In addition to working as a security guard, Casanova had a past career in the military. Similar to most young adults, Casanova was unsure of what he would do coming out of high school. Then a few years after his graduation, he decided to join the Marines. This experience helped Casanova find his path in life.

“[Joining the marines] is the best thing I ever did,” Casanova said. “It saved me and helped me out. I was well on my way to the wrong side of the road.”

The staff here have recognized his service in the military in various ways. One who stood out was during an assembly of the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and Silent Drill Platoon when many people at the school first discovered Casanova had served in the marines.

“One of the staff from counseling found out that I was a Marine veteran and me and another staff member were recognized and we were out there in the football field,” Casanova said. “That was a pretty positive day in my life there.”

Since he started working at the school in 2013, Casanova has been using his experiences to help encourage students throughout their high school years. Working at a high school is a perfect place for him to continue his career after the marines because he is able to use his desire to protect and keep people safe to help the students.

“Having my work ethic from the marines allows me to hold people accountable at times for their actions,” Casanova said. “Let them know that things they do now, they may not see the effects now, but in the future.”

It is evident that Casanova makes an effort to interact with the students. Junior Kolette Morehead is only one of the many students he has made an impact on. She explains how he makes her day brighter by always making an effort to ask her how she is doing.

“People tend to not like them because they are security guards and they, you know, have their rules and all that, but I think that they do have a pretty impactful personality on campus because they say hello to everybody and they really do care about all the kids,” Morehead said. “Just saying hi makes everybody happy and makes everybody smile.”

Aside from serving in the marines and working as a security guard, Casanova is really just like everyone else. He enjoys his hobbies and spending time with his family outside of school.

“Believe it or not, I like to play Ps4, some Madden, some Call of duty,” Casanova said. “I like to watch movies and just chill with my family.”

Casanova is not only here to enforce the rules, but also to act as an adult who has been through high school before who can give helpful advice to the students.

“Strive to do whatever you can for yourself that’s positive and put your best foot forward and understand that the groundwork you’re lying right now is going to help you in your future,” Casanova said. “High school is not that bad; it’s just another little piece of your life that you’ve got to endure. Stay positive and always do the right thing and it’s going to carry on forward in your future.”