Jesuit High school welcomes a new addition to the campus monitor team with Mr. Jarred Perez. Originally from California, Perez has a passion for connecting with students and a commitment for personal growth.
Growing up in the warm climate and beautiful beaches of Southern California, Mr. Perez was constantly outside, surrounded by surfing and skateboarding. After moving up to Oregon, Perez pursued competitive swimming and competed on the United States national swim team.
When he first moved here, he worked on public safety in Portland. After working several years in public safety he then transitioned into school security. Perez decided that working with kids gave him a better sense of fulfillment and purpose.
“I worked public safety in Portland for a while then got offered a job at a different school and I like having a positive impact on the young kids”
This passion of having a positive impact and interacting with students is what ultimately brought him to Jesuit High School.
Despite working at Jesuit from 2:00pm to 10:00pm, Perez enjoys staying active during the early morning to afternoon. Some of his favorite activities outside of work include lifting weights and playing golf.
“I like to play golf and like to work out with my dad,” said Perez.
One of Mr. Perez’s favorite aspects of the job is interacting with students, building connections, and constantly meeting new people everyday. Mr. Perez is always surprised by the intelligence of the students.
“Just building the connections and just seeing how smart you guys are, super crazy,” said Perez.
When Mrs. Kent, the director of campus safety was asked about what she appreciates about Mr. Perez, she stated, “His maturity for somebody as young as him, he handles himself very well, very level headed, has good judgement, interacts with people very well and is very professional.
Mrs. Kent also stated, “Mr. Perez takes his job very seriously and is always early to his shift. His shift starts at 2 and he is here at 1 every day. He takes his job and the safety of the school to heart and there is nothing he won’t do. He is here early, he is punctual”
Mr. Perez sees his job at Jesuit not just as a personal journey, but a journey of faith, emphasizing the impact that his current career has on him, working within a highschool setting.
“I hope to learn just how to better my faith with God and I think just learn how to be a better individual overall,” said Perez.
Perez reinforces the importance and strength of the community at Jesuit, when asked about the most surprising thing about working at Jesuit, he responded with, “how amazing the kids and staff are”.
Mr. Perez is very optimistic about being a part of the Jesuit community, using it as a way to form connections with students, as well as deepening his faith. Perez looks forward to seeing what his future at Jesuit holds and where this opportunity leads him in his professional career. Each day, you can see Mr. Perez directing traffic in the Cronin parking lot after school and late at night at various sporting events in the Knight Gym.
