As the passing period ends and the class period begins, security guard Annette Baker stands watch, keeping the hallways and the South Lobby safe and clear. As students load into the study hall, she’s able to hold the fort down and keep a smile on her face.

“I love working here, and I do a good job. I just love working with the kids and being around a lot of kids, doing and making sure everything is okay and well taken care of,” Baker said.

Baker has worked at Niles West for eight years. Before coming to West, she worked with toddlers at a school in Lakeview.

“Before I started here, I was working with toddlers, from toddlers I started here, and this made me stay here more because I love working with the kids,” Baker said.

Being a security guard come with its ups and downs. To Baker, both the downsides and benefits have to do with the students.

“Sometimes it makes it difficult when I have kids that want to be disrespectful, but I don’t really let that bother me because I know sometimes they have bad days and sometimes they have good days… The most rewarding part is when I know the kids are getting a successful education and grades are great out of high school,” Baker said.

Baker is also well-liked among her coworkers. Her hard work and dedication to her job makes her stand out.

“Annette Baker is a very reliable, very personal, professional person. We count on her for a number of things within the security realm… [and she] is assigned to several different types of tasks, because she’s capable and willing to learn. Not everyone is willing to learn and not everyone is as capable… We’re very happy to have her on staff. It’s difficult to find people that are the complete package, and that are trainable and want to learn,” Director of Security Michael Pechter said.

“I love working with all of the employees,” Baker said.

“She’s a good person to work with, and like me, we have kids, and that’s why she works with kids,” Officer Qunnetti Howard said.

No matter how difficult or tiresome her job can get, Baker still keeps a positive attitude, and thinks about her favorite part of being a security guard – knowing that she’s making sure that everything is safe.

“I just love my job, I love what I do,” Baker said.