A princess. A moviestar. A singer. These professions are common interests of 9 year olds. However, this was not the case for Ashley Williams. Williams’ childhood dream was to become a security guard—and that’s just what she did. 

Williams is not the first generation of security guards in her family. In fact, her mother was a security guard, and she began her story while Williams was a child. 

“Well, I started in 2019, but that wasn’t at Altoona,” Williams said. “However, my mother was really where it all started. Even as a child, I would sit with her, watching her do her studies at home. She was a single mother, and I really admired her.”

WIlliams’ mother was not a school security officer like her daughter. She [Williams’ mother] dedicated her time as a security guard to helping homeless residents find a location to sleep during the night and helping them get their GEDs to get their lives started.

“My mom loved her job,” Williams said. “I would go with her to work during the summertime, and she is such a big support system for me. She is always there to pick me up when I need it most.”

Williams’ position at Altoona High School started on Nov. 11, 2022. She began as a greeter at the main entrance during the day but was promoted to a full time position shortly after. 

“During the day, I have a variety of duties I need to fulfill,” Williams said. “It was intimidating at first, but I am starting to get the hang of it.”

Williams does not only cover the high school buildings on a daily basis. On a typical day, she will travel to the elementary schools, Kimmel, the junior high, the CTC building and the high school. 

“At the elementary school buildings, officer McNeal and I go to check in with the kids,” Williams said. “It is absolutely my favorite part of the day. All they want to do is talk to you and share all the things they did that day. They ask for high-fives and fist bumps, which I love. Some will even come up and give me the biggest hugs in the world. They [the elementary school children] honestly just make you feel like a rockstar.” 

Since starting her position in the Altoona School District, she has been trained by a variety of other school officers including, but not limited to: officer John McFalls, Gregory McNeal and Brian Riggleman, who is nicknamed Bigrig by his fellow security coworkers. 

“We [the security team] are responsible for 23 properties,” McFalls said. “Her training has consisted of many different aspects such as how to write disciplinary reports, helping with bag checks in the morning, how to deal with various incidents and just teaching her the ins and outs of the day. For example, typically, lunch time and dismissal time are the worst when it comes to things such as fights, so we made sure to warn her about that. She is also currently working on getting armed, and we wouldn’t let an officer around the building without the proper training.”

According to McFalls, having a female security guard throughout the building during the day has been a benefit when it comes to patrolling places such as the female restrooms. 

“We have had a few incidents in the past with girls vaping in the bathroom, so having a female officer there to do those checks has helped us keep the rest of the school safe because, obviously as a male, we are unable to patrol those places,” McFalls said.   

According to Williams, a security guard is more than someone to enforce the rules inside the four walls of the school. Williams aspires to be a friendly face who students can wave to in the hallways and be comfortable around, especially in times of need. 

“There are a lot of good people out there who are security guards,” Williams said. “I just feel they’re another parent in a way or, at least, a mentor.”