Everyone sees them every day driving in and out of the gates and walking around campus. Our security officers are here 24/7, 365 days, with many of them getting here early every morning to make sure that our day is as smooth and safe as possible. How many of these individuals does the student body actually know though?
First off, Craig Slayton, the head of our security and safety team.
Q: How long have you worked at FWCD?
Slayton: “24 years.”
Q: What did you do before working at FWCD?
Slayton: “I was a Fort Worth Police officer… for 25 years.”
Q: What do you wish students or parents would know about how to make your job easier?
Slayton: “I think it’s two different things. Our main thing is [we wish] everyone in the community would let us know what’s going on. Like, someone comes up and says ‘Ok, I’m here [with a doordash],’ we don’t know about them. We don’t have an email… If it hasn’t been approved, we’re sending them home. The other thing is just be mindful of speeds [when driving on campus]. I always tell [people] to pay attention to your surroundings.”
Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of working at FWCD?
Slayton: “I like getting to know people. My cousins went here, so I used to come to dances in the round gym before they had air conditioning. And then this used to be my patrol beat, [and] I would answer calls up here, so it was kinda inevitable that I’d be working here. But yeah, I get to know people. It’s a great community, [and] as long as that community connection stays there, the school will always keep on going.”
Q: Do you have any funny stories from working security here?
Slayton: “One time I got called to the lower school, and I guess somebody needed to be a mummy, so they wrapped me up in toilet paper. Another one was at a summer camp, and they were trying to teach them about when crime happens, and that the descriptions of the bad guy varies sometimes. So I went to the costumes in the theater and I got a clown costume, I got different pairs of shoes, and I wore a nightcap type hat and I ran through the classroom and took the ram head/satanic cult type head off the desk. Then we asked the kids for a description of the person who just took that thing off the desk. That was probably the [most] fun.
Next, Chad Peacock, who is FWCD’s Security Supervisor.
Q: How long have you worked at FWCD?
Peacock: “24 years.”
Q: What did you do before working at FWCD?
Peacock: “I graduated from the Police Academy, which was a nine month process, in early 2000, and then I got this job just right out of the academy.”
Q: What do you wish students or parents would know about how to make your job easier?
Peacock: “I wish that students knew that we are not here to get them in trouble. I wish that they realized that we are not the dress code police. We’re not here to get them in trouble. We are here for their safety. I wish they understood that we were here for that reason alone. That’s our main priority. A lot of students will look at us as police officers and think that we enforce laws, which we don’t. Particularly upper school and parents, they look at us like, Oh My God. They’re going to get to us. My shirt is untucked, or I’m late for class, and that’s irrelevant to anything we do. Now, we certainly will act if something really inappropriate is going on. We’ll definitely intervene with that. But that’s not our priority.”
Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of working at FWCD?
Peacock: “My favorite part of working here is, I guess, the feel of the community because I’ve been here so long. I literally know everything. I mean, when I see people driving up, I say, Oh, that’s Chelsea Beninate, or that’s Eric Lombardi or teachers, all of it. I recognize everyone. I’m now seeing board members that were kids here when I was working here. The worst part of my job is that it is an essential position. So we’re here 24/7, every day of the year, even on Christmas, we’re here. So the negative of that is I could get called in at any time. I mean, there’s been many, many nights that I’ll call in the middle of the night. Hey, a security guard didn’t show up, and I got to come up at night.”
Q: Do you have any funny stories from working security here?
Peacock: “It’s always entertaining dealing with the geese that are chasing people. I get calls that people won’t get out of their cars or the parking lots. So I go rescue them. A lot of the animal calls are really fun for us. We get a lot of snakes, [and other] animals. People will see a coyote or a bobcat, and they’ll call us. I’m just not used to that. Those are always fun calls to deal with. We used to have turkeys all over this campus, just free range wild turkeys. And they would go up to the doors in the class doors and see their reflection. They would attack the doors. And people thought they were trying to break into the buildings, but they weren’t. They saw the reflection. They were trying to fight themselves. So they thought they were going to fight the other turkey.”
Next up, Larice Gallander, who greets a lot of us when we come in through the Bryant Irvin gate every day.
Q: How long have you worked at FWCD?
Gallander: “October, 2020. So I came in during COVID.”
Q: What did you do before working at FWCD?
Gallander: “I was an international charter bus driver. I went all over the U. S. and Canada in a charter bus. I transported some of your guys around. [I took] Shelley Raines [and the girl’s basketball team] to Tulsa to a basketball game back in 2008. I also worked the 2010 Olympics, I’ve worked Super Bowls, I’ve worked World Series, I worked the Final Four. My favorite place I’ve been is Lake George, New York. That’s so cool. That’s a really calm, cool place. The town is so small you can walk from one end to the other.”
Q: What do you wish students or parents would know about how to make your job easier?
Gallander: “The stickers [on the windshields]. That’s to make my life easier, their life easier. Because that way we know who’s coming and who’s going.”
Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of working at FWCD?
Gallander: “My least favorite is being in my hole because I like being out, I like being mobile. But that’s why I also make sure I try to greet everybody because at least I’m not just in my hole. The favorite part is the interaction. I enjoy interacting with the families. The new families, when they come through, I have to run their license. [I] had a new couple come in the other day and [the license plate] is New York and I said, what part of New York? [I was wondering] have I been there? You know, do I have something that I can relate to, because I’ve kind of been everywhere.”
Q: Do you have any funny stories from working security here?
Gallander: “When I came into the interview, I went in and I sat down with Craig Slayton. Come to find out, me and Craig had worked together 20 years ago. I was a bus driver. And he was overseeing the buses for his church. And he was managing [the cars] because the church he was going to was using a parking lot over [across the street] because they didn’t have enough parking and I was doing a shuttle bus back and forth, back and forth.”
Next up, Chris McCracken, who works the other gate, and who we see most afternoons, also at the gate post.
Q: How long have you worked at FWCD?
McCracken: “Six years.”
Q: What did you do before working at FWCD?
McCracken: “I spent 20+ years in the Navy, and then worked at French Oil for five years.”
Q: What do you wish students or parents would know about how to make your job easier?
McCracken: “Students aren’t the problem.”
Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of working at FWCD?
McCracken: “It’s one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever done. We have a good, competent team.”
Q: Do you have any funny stories from working security here?
McCracken: “I always walk very quietly, and I was walking past the science building one time, and I turned the corner and scared one of the students really badly. We also sometimes get calls about snakes in the chicken coop, and I went down there and I just picked the snake up and out with my hand and the mom was so amazed.”
Last, but certainly not least, Cedric Landrum, who mans the Field House gate and greets the Upper School students most mornings.
Q: How long have you worked at FWCD?
Landrum: “About 20 years.”
Q: What did you do before working at FWCD?
Landrum: “I was a professional baseball player. I played for the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets from 1986-1995, and then I coached for the Ravens from 1996-2005.”
Q: What do you wish students or parents would know about how to make your job easier?
Landrum: “I wish people wouldn’t speed. The kids speed in the mornings from around 8:40-8:50 when they’re late for class. The parents speed all day. I really wish the parents wouldn’t speed. The speed limit is 15.”
Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of working at FWCD?
Landrum: “I like getting to see all the kids, they’re all very nice. I also coach Middle School baseball and I’ve started to enjoy that this year. It’s been fun. My least favorite thing is when people speed. Don’t speed.”
Q: Do you have any funny stories from working security here?
Landrum: “One time there was a police chase for this guy, and he parked by the school, got completely naked, jumped the fence, and ran through a varsity baseball game completely naked. One of the dads who had been a wrestler went out there and tackled him for us. That was before I worked security. It was really funny and strange though.”
These are only a few of the amazing people that keep us safe every day, but they all play such a vital role in our community. From opening up building doors in the morning to helping the littles not fall out of the cars, and so much more, the security team does a lot for us. The least we can do is thank them just a bit more often.
