Tristan Faafeu
There’s no better time than now to acknowledge those who take care of us for their hard work. Security Officer James Godette comes to work every day and does his best at a role that requires a lot from him. It’s easy to take them for granted, but the order they keep in the school isn’t easy to maintain by any means. Godette says that “You don’t want to make a wrong decision,” implying the pressure he sometimes feels to make sure we students don’t get into any bad situations. To better understand security’s ability to wake up every morning to come and care for us, we need to take a dive into Godette's conscience and find what fuels his resolve.
Godette grew up in Mount Vernon and, like any other child, went to school. Now, as children, we often tend to make silly and irrational decisions. But Godette’s own high school security guard, David, kept him out of trouble. Later understanding David’s role as a security guard and the impact it had on him, Godette made a decision to follow a similar path. Taking the required security exam and background check, he assumed his own position as a security guard and does good work even today.
Godette takes pride in his work here at NHS because his passion lies in being able to interact and communicate with the students he looks after. He states, “I love seeing the students’ journey from freshman to senior and then seeing them out to college. It’s like seeing a caterpillar turn into a butterfly.” One such instance came about when he encountered a group of students who liked the famed Dragon Ball series. Godette, being a fan of the series as well, naturally inquired about it with the students and before long, he had created a bond with these children that didn’t stop at just that conversation. Being able to connect on even a simple level like this shows the willingness and want he has to be close with us. In bonding with the students and watching them go through their own metamorphosis all the way to graduation day, Godette fulfills his role as one of our protectors and it becomes a journey that both he and the students are able to remember fondly.
Some of you readers might not be sold on his genuinity yet. Everyone has to make a living, right? But Godette stated that his reason for choosing to become a security guard was for the most part because of his desire to protect us students. He mentions that “when I can go home every day and everybody’s safe, that’s satisfying for me.” Godette has his own family, which includes his daughter who goes to school just like we do. He envisions the type of treatment he’d want his daughter to receive from her security guards and mirrors that in his daily efforts. Greeting us, giving us advice, keeping us safe; these are the things he wants to see for every school, so it’s what he gives us.
“Your concern is not just yourself, but the people you look at.” Godette cares deeply about the students here and wants to ensure our safety, as well as give us an experience that we’ll remember when we graduate. From the moment we walk into school to the moment we leave, security guards like James Godette do their best to make sure that we’re safe, protected, and secured.