Terry Bolden

Mr. Terry Bolden is a security guard at Parker who works very hard to keep the school safe every day while still making students, parents and others feel welcome. When we arrived for the interview, Mr. Bolden was working at the Webster security entrance and still made time to tell us about his job. He quickly stood up and walked eagerly to the doorway to talk with us.

Mr. Bolden wakes up at 4:30 am, when the students are still asleep, and he is at the Parker by 6:30 am each morning. By the time he gets to Parker, many adults are just waking up, and they need several cups of coffee to get through the day. Instead of drinking coffee to stay awake all day, Mr. Bolden drinks Cherry Coke, Mountain Dew Kickstart, and a lot of orange juice. He says that security inside of school is much easier than outside of school, and he thinks that it’s a less aggressive environment. Mr. Bolden says that he likes working with children because kids are more willing to listen and be corrected, unlike adults. He said that his favorite part of his job is meeting new people everyday. Mr. Bolden is very much a people person. He loves talking to all different kinds of people and getting to know them better. 

In his six months at Parker as a security guard, Mr. Bolden has never called the police. He recognizes many faces and knows many people around the school. He can usually tell if someone is a visitor because they look confused and don't know where to go. If he sees someone that fits that description, he welcomes them, and says “Can I help you?” Mr. Bolden isn’t scared by what he sees on the news, and he is not scared of the school shootings. He said that the news never mentions all the good things people do, only the bad things, and that this gives Chicago a bad reputation. Mr. Bolden also said that Parker is a very safe school, and he doesn’t think that any gun violence will happen at this school because of the great security Parker has. The weirdest thing Mr. Bolden has seen on the security cameras at Parker was a woman leaving her car for 5 to 10 seconds and when she came back, her purse had been stolen. He still has no idea how the woman did not notice the man that stole her purse. When he was asked about how he thinks the school should deal with drills (lockdown, fire, etc.) Mr. Bolden said, “I think the drills should be a surprise.” Mr. Terry Bolden thinks that if the drills were a surprise, then people would be calmer if a real disaster were to occur. 

When we asked Mr. Bolden where he had worked previously, he responded, “Where haven’t I worked?” He has worked as a security guard in many different settings including a hospital, a steel mill, a university, and he even worked as a cashier at McDonald's. When asked about his work at McDonald's, he said, “It was the best fun I ever had! I didn't have to pay for any of my meals!” Mr. Bolden has had training in hand to hand combat, hazmat, CPR, handcuff techniques, and knows how to shoot a firearm and use a Taser. Overall, he has 82 certifications in many different areas. When he was younger, Mr. Bolden always wanted to have a job where he helped people. He originally wanted to be in the US Air Force, but quickly learned that he had a fear of heights. He also considered being a police officer. He thought about going into a medical-related area, but realized that it was more stressful in the medical field than in any other field. This discouraged him from being a doctor. He instead decided to be a security guard. Mr. Bolden is happy with his job as a security guard here at Parker, even though he does say that the job does sometimes get a bit boring. 

He later told us that over 600 people applied for this job at Parker. He was chosen because of his prior experience as a security guard. During the application process, he also applied to CPS, and another hospital. But, he says he is very happy to have been taken in by the Parker community. 

The scariest experience Mr. Bolden experienced was when he was working at a hospital. He saw a man getting carried in who had been shot several times. He says he could even see the inside of the man’s skull. This experience was scarier for him than the multiple times he was attacked by other people (all of whom he managed to put in handcuffs). Mr. Bolden was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and still lives there today.

Mr. Bolden is a security guard at school, but once it hits 3:30 pm, he is a father. Mr. Bolden has two kids, a son and a daughter. His daughter is in first grade and his son is in pre-K. They both go to Ray Elementary in Hyde Park. Since the family has one car, Mr. Bolden drops himself off at school and his wife comes and gets the car to bring his daughter to school. His daughter gets to school at 8:45 am and his son gets to school at 1:00 pm. Since his kids get out of school earlier than Mr. Bolden, they come and pick him up from school. On special days when they go out to eat, he will get home at around 6:30 pm. Any other time he gets home at around 5:20 pm. Mr. Bolden says that he only gets around three hours of sleep each night because every night his daughter thinks that there is a monster under her bed, and his son gets up at 3am because he is hungry. 

During his free time, Mr. Bolden likes to play video games. He loves games like Assassin's Creed on PS4 (not Xbox). When Mr. Bolden worked at the steel mill, his family was worried that he wouldn’t make it back home because of the dangers at the facility. Now, here at Parker, his family is not worried despite the school shootings that have been happening across the U.S. When addressing school shootings, he said that he has strong feelings that they could have been prevented. He says that he does everything in his power to make sure something like that will not happen here at Parker. Even though Mr. Bolden is around kids all the time, it hasn’t changed the way he views children, especially because he has children of his own.

Mr. Bolden is the one of the people keeping Parker safe on a daily basis. He makes sure that we have nothing to worry about. He is one of the backbones to Parker’s safety and still gives people a warm smile despite the seriousness of his job. He is a father, a husband, a security guard and a people person. We are so lucky to have him here. Thanks to Mr. Bolden for his amazing work, and his great work to come.