Public high schools are plagued with social issues that drastically affect students, from mental health issues to increased pressure from class work loads. Unfortunately, Shorewood is no exception to this. 

Our school is no stranger to issues like drug use, vandalism, and heavy social media influence. Our security staff, Miguel Diaz and Anthony Vasquez, are tasked to deal with students who are caught violating school rules, but how do they really feel  about these issues? 

Before they worked at Shorewood, Diaz and Vasquez both worked in hospitals after serving in the military. Diaz worked at Virginia Mason University Village Medical Center after serving in the Marine Corp for 3 ½ years, while Vasquez worked at the Virginia Mason in Capitol Hill as security for two years after serving in the army for seven. 

“I dealt with mentally ill patients, drug substance abuse, prisoner patients, and then prior to that I’ve done multiple security jobs,” said Diaz. “Right as soon as I got out of the Army I just found a job as security working in the hospital so I felt like since I had that experience I brought it here,” said Vasquez. 

So it’s safe to assume that both Diaz and Vasquez have plenty of prior work experience but how do they feel about how things should be done at Shorewood in terms of discipline and approaching problems?

Diaz has felt like students here at Shorewood need a different direction when it comes to getting disciplined. “We should find better ways to direct them. Instead of just letting the same behavior continue or disciplining them just by giving them lunch detention and stuff, I don’t think that’s the right answer. 

I think we need to find more outlets for student discipline,” he said. He believes having more after school activities could help them out. 

When it comes to facing the situations both Diaz and Vasquez need to take care of, they each approach it their own ways. 

Diaz believes he is fair with everyone. He gives the student a chance to explain themselves for their actions. Not only that, but he also tends to show them what the consequences are down the road. He wants to make it a learning lesson and tries to connect with the student as well. 

Vasquez said: “Just approach like you approach anything: you just gotta be confident, understand your role, understand you are here to help people, and at the end of day, I just want to do my job to the best of my abilities.”