Staff spotlight

SOUTHWEST'S MARVELOUS SRO 

Officer Jackson is Southwest’s SRO. She has been working here for 3 years.

Jackson started her career wanting to be a Pre-Vet. That turned into studying biology with the idea of being a teacher, because both of her parents are educators. And at the end that idea turned into “I’m not teaching nobody at nobody's school”, because she wanted to do something that would keep her busy. 

So from there Jackson attended A&T, where she got her Criminal Justice degree. Afterwards she got hired at High Point and went to Davidson County Community College to get her BLET certification (Basic law enforcement training), which is a 6 month process with a state exam and a physical exam. Ending with an 8 week course before being released on her own. 

Officer Jackson’s responsibilities at Southwest are not just about her presence and enforcing rules; it's more about building a bridge with students and making them more comfortable with law enforcement. “There [are] some that will say that they would never speak to an officer, but then they interact with their SRO. Then they understand that there is a person on the other side and it's not just a badge.” says Jackson. 

Jackson says that the best part about working at Southwest is getting to see kids be kids and seeing how much they grow through their high school journey. “The whole idea of being inside of school is being able to be there and give advice, with the hope of steering them in the right direction.” says Jackson. 

The worst part about her job, Jackson says, is “seeing good things be taken away from the good students because others aren’t willing to behave in a way where everyone can have fun.” 

This includes the policies Jackson says that “...there's some things that the only reason why those have to be in place is because there are certain ones [students] that if [the policy] is not in place, we won't have any control.” 

Officer Jackson likes to interact with the students and build healthy relationships and connections. Jackson will often horseplay and joke around with the students so that the negative officer stereotype is broken and they see that it's not all about the gun and the badge. Jackson also says that those connections she is able to build with students are the most rewarding part of her job. 

Officer Jackson wants Southwest’s students to remember to “... be mindful, be thoughtful. Have fun but be smart about it. Everyone here wants you to succeed. You are the future.”