Many students might be wondering who sits behind the main entrance welcome desk during the school day. This is La Salle’s security guard, Matthew Weichold. Mr. Weichold came to La Salle at the end of last year to keep students safe and to ensure that every person who enters the school is supposed to be there.

Before La Salle, Mr. Weichold has worked outside of schools as an armed security guard, and he also worked at Nordstrom as a loss prevention agent. As part of an ongoing relationship with Oregon Patrol Services, Mr. Weichold’s employer, La Salle was able to bring him here as a permanent campus safety monitor.

In the long term, Mr. Weichold is leaning towards working in law enforcement, and is currently working for businesses and schools that help to prepare him for this career.

To be a security guard with a firearm in the state of Oregon, a person must hold dual licenses, both armed and unarmed.  This means that Mr. Weichold, and other security guards with a firearm, must take an unarmed and armed class every single year. The unarmed class lasts 2-3 days with a fee and the armed class lasts also 2-3 days with an even greater fee. However, Mr. Weichold is not armed in his position as the daily campus safety monitor at La Salle.

At La Salle, Mr. Weichold ensures that anyone entering the school is supposed to be here. Also, while students are in class, Mr. Weichold sits at the welcome desk to provide protection and to double-check visitors’ purposes for being at La Salle.

“My favorite part of my job is educating people and making them feel comfortable… so people can really learn who I am and what [I] do,” Mr. Weichold said.

Mr. Devine was asked what he appreciates about Mr. Weichold and what he does for the La Salle community, and he noted that Mr. Weichold “embodies for our community a warm, welcoming personality that exudes hospitality to all of our students, staff and visitors. He relates well to our students and to the adults in our community.” 

“One of our key initiatives this year is to review and update our Campus Crisis Response Plan,” Mr. Devine said. “Mr. Weichold and I have already started working on that, and his insights, expertise and experience are proving to be really beneficial to understanding how to make our community safer and more prepared for any kind of disaster.”

Mr. Devine also added that Mr. Weichold “is calm, clear headed and makes good decisions under stress. We are fortunate to have him here!”

Overall, Mr. Weichold has proven to be a great addition to the La Salle community, and he is working hard every day to protect our school and ensure that the entire community is safe and protected.

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Do you have any questions for Mr. Weichold or about his role at La Salle? Let us know in the comments below!