Ms. Karen Stewart

Ms. Stewart has come a long way in life, from wanting to be a flight attendant to greeting smiling faces everyday. She shows her deep commitment to her job by waking up at 4:30 AM everyday, working hard and being alert all throughout her 8-and-a-half hour day (from 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM), before returning home to enjoy the rest of her evening. It must take extreme bravery to know that she holds the safety of everyone in the building in her hands. Ms. Stewart has all the qualities to do her job without getting stressed one bit everyday.

Before Ms. Stewart came to Parker, she worked for CPS (Chicago Public Schools) as a security guard at Canter Middle School in Hyde Park, where Ms. Stewart was born and raised and still lives to this day, and Urban Prep Academy. Ms. Stewart had a very hard role at her old schools. If a kid was acting up, she would have to go up to the classroom and discipline them. She says, “That happened all the time.” Ms. Stewart has also worked at CBS Channel 2 News as a security guard. An old friend suggested to Ms. Stewart in 2001 that she should be a security guard, and she decided to do so. For her to be able to be a guard, she had to take a four-day training course that was very difficult and tiring.

Ms. Stewart has a very challenging job at Parker, especially during lockdown drills, when she has to get in contact with the police. The most difficult responsibility Ms. Stewart has is watching the cameras and making sure the school is secure. She is responsible for knowing who leaves the building and when. When Ms. Stewart works on the weekends, she has to go to a phone upstairs that will broadcast her voice all around the school telling people that Parker will be closing soon. These tasks are not easy, but Ms. Stewart is able to handle them.

While Ms. Stewart enjoys her job and working here at Parker, she also likes to hang out and do other things in her free time. She told us she works out and lost 11 pounds in recent months. She said she feels "great." Every Sunday, Ms. Stewart's family goes to church together, then has dinner at a different family member's house every week. This is when they catch up and find out what's been going on in each other's lives. Some of her favorite memories are from summer vacations growing up, where Ms. Stewart got to travel out of town to visit her cousins.

Technology plays a huge part in Ms. Stewart's job. It also makes her job easier. There are motion detectors on the doors so that if one goes off, she will know someone has entered the building and she can then confirm whether or not they belong here. Even though the motion detectors play a big part in her job, the cameras also help her a lot because if something goes wrong she can identify the person and tell the police who the person is. One other piece of helpful equipment is the silent alarm button. It alerts the police and tells them to come to the school if there’s ever a problem. There is also a button in every classroom that, when pressed, will alert whoever is on the job during that time. Parker also requires that Upper Schoolers and staff members wear ID badges to identify themselves. The badges help Ms. Stewart find out where everyone is and keep track of who goes in and out of the building. In addition, the badges help identify students when they are outside the school in the larger community.

Ms. Stewart is incredibly friendly to everyone, but can be serious when the time calls for it as the safety of the school is in her hands. She has mastered how to pull off both over her years as a security guard. We are very grateful she took the time to let us interview her, and she is a wonderful new addition to the Parker community!