Faces of 501: Sgt. Gary Williams
Topeka Public Schools Police Officer Sgt. Gary Williams has worked for the district since Aug. 2014. In addition to his work at Highland Park High School he is a member of the Kansas Air National Guard's 190th Refueling Wing, Williams will leave for deployment with the 190th on Aug. 28.
“The good part about working for Topeka Public Schools is
the overall positive attitude. Just
about every day, I get to come to HPHS, and be greeted by smiling faces!
Students and staff alike! Also the school hours are fantastic. Having been in public service all my life, I have rarely had a
"regular" schedule. I love being home in the evenings, as I
don't feel like I'm missing out on life anymore. When I'm not working, I'm
usually working! I have two young children, and of course they occupy
most of my off duty time. On top of family, I've been a member of the
190th Security Forces Squadron at Forbes Field for 20 years. I have
enjoyed my career at the 190th, and have no plans to retire anytime soon. Who knows, at this point I might try to do 30 years! The other huge part
of my life is teaching self-defense. I have a 1st Degree Black Belt in
Tae Kwon Do, which lead me to understand I needed to learn other stuff to
augment that system. So I went out and learned boxing, and Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu. Those things lead me to fighting in MMA. I'm not sure if
I'm going to fight anymore, but I will teach self-defense, and firearms for the
rest of my life.
“I tell students to always
get all the information you can before making a decision. Every day I see
students at the school making decisions based on limited information. A
lot of that is youth, and only seeing what you want to see. When the
opportunity arises, and it often does, I tell students to gather as much
information as you can, before you make a decision. I don't care what the
topic is, gather the information from all sources, and make that
decision based on your values, and the facts at hand.”
