Every morning, without fail, Officer Stallings stands at the left security machine to greet students coming to Jackson-Reed. The Beacon decided to interview our cherished security guard to learn a little more about her life both inside and outside of our school.

Q: What do you think you bring to the Jackson-Reed community?

“My love and warmth and heart. You tell me what I bring, compared to all these other people you encounter.”

A: What’s the worst thing you’ve confiscated?

“I don’t know what the Beacon friendly way to say this is, but I’ll just say we all expect drugs, so other than that the most unexpected thing I’ve found in people’s bags are sex toys.”

Q: What is your favorite part of being a security guard?

A: “The kids. The way we’re able to interact with you guys is what makes our day…even when things get a little…spicy”

Q: Did you always want to be a security officer?

A: “No. I wanted to do mentoring, that’s what I wanted to do, but life gets in the way.”

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: “We’re [Stallings and Darby] actually working on our entrepreneur stuff right now. We have a couple of ideas; I want to do kids clothing and boy hair products ‘cause everything is always for girls. We have a couple of things and we’re just trying to get the ball rolling.”

Q: What do you do with confiscated drugs?

A: “I smoke them is that what y’all want to hear? No, we’ve got to turn them over to MPD (Metropolitan Police Department), depending on the amount. Everything gets destroyed.”

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: “I grew up in Clinton, Maryland. [It’s a] small town.”

Q: Do you have family in DC?

A: “Yes, I have family all over. I guess our roots would be from DC, and then we kind of migrated on over to Maryland.”

Q: What do you get up to on your days off?

A: “On Saturdays…I love Go-Go music, and I like the sound of live music. And on Sundays, we take it to church and play Gospel.”

Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement?

A: “Oh my gosh, that is a good question. First of all, my son, [which is] a long story. But no, my greatest achievement on a daily basis is to see you guys smile.”