Wilson Cannon

From Left to Right, Morgan Rose, Howard Norris, and Jordan Saylor.

If you’ve been to CHS recently, you’ve probably seen at least 1 of the CSA’s around the halls. 

If you’re unaware, the “Care and Safety Assistant” program at CHS is a unique program the school has implemented, where the approach is to build relationships with students, helping run the daily functions of school in places like the hallways. They’re trained in areas such as teen mental health first-aid, de-escalation, and safety procedures. 

Within the last few weeks, three new CSA’s have been introduced into the school, Morgan Rose, Howard Norris, and Jordan Saylor.

Morgan Rose, one of the new CSA’s who is also known as the new head Lacrosse Coach grew up in Albemarle county, attending both Monticello and AHS. Playing Lacrosse from first grade, all the way to senior year, she’s turned her former passion into a profession. Other than coaching Lacrosse and taking care of her daughter, she’s got an interest in cooking and baking, one of her other dream jobs being a professional chef. “My latest thing that I was trying to pursue was becoming a chef,” she said. “I wanted to be a competition chef and go to Food Network, I just love to cook. It’s decompressing for me.”  Starting off her teaching career as an autism teaching assistant at Albemarle for a few years, and then working at a restaurant for a few years, she returned to schools with CHS. “I just want everyone to know that they deserve to be treated equally, they deserve the same chances given to all the other students regardless of their differences or where they come from, and I’m willing to have any conversations with anybody, especially considering the things I’ve been through in the past. I have a bunch of stories to share and experiences I’ve gained through that so don’t hesitate to come chat with me at any time.”

Growing up in Baltimore, Howard Norris moved to Louisa county 2 years ago to be closer to his daughter. A Basketball fan at heart, a Kobe Bryant fan, and a sneaker enthusiast and collector on the side, he’s turned into being a Softball dad for his 10-year-old daughter. Working in school systems for around 5 years, you may recognize him for originally working as a member of the custodial staff here at CHS, before becoming a CSA recently. “I like CHS, it feels like home to me,” Norris says, “Me, coming from the city and then moving to Louisa I was like ‘It’s kinda country,’ but when I came here it felt like home, it was the city and the culture.” He says, “And I also like the diversity of CHS, I love it.” He adds. “Coming in, I heard that CHS was all ‘rough around the edges’ and there was a lot going on at the beginning of the year, but once I came here, It’s not that bad, there’s a lot of potential.” Before working in schools, he actually wanted to be an EMT, but ended up choosing schools. “I wanted to be an EMT, and I did non-emergency medical transport for a while, but from what I experienced I changed my mind.” He said.

Born and raised in Charlottesville, and part of CHS’s class of 2015, Jordan Saylor describes his choice to work here as “a homecoming, because a lot of teachers remember me.” Also attending Jackson Via, Walker, and Buford, he’s a “Charlottesville Kid.” With a passion for basketball, his ultimate goal is to become a basketball coach here at CHS. “My goal right now is to be a head basketball coach here. Either that or JV coach, we’ll see how it goes.” His own experience from going to CHS has made him feel even more in tune with the students, being able to connect with the school more. “Being here, I kinda know how it is.” he says, “It’s different because CHS holds a special place in my heart, so I care more about y’all because I know what it’s like to come here. I know what it’s like to walk the halls and deal with what you’re dealing with as a teenager and every day life that you go through.” When talking about the people he looks up to, he touches on His Dad, as well as other members of the CHS staff, like Mr. Brown, and Mr. Leatherwood. “Those are people I look up to. Older people that watched me grow up and took me under their wing.“ He expressed his feelings about the CSA program in CHS, saying, “I feel like you’re building relationships, and it helps because with kids walking through the hallways you don’t want to be all on them like “Get to class, get to class,” because if they hear it in every hallway they’re more prone to push back on you,” he says, “But they walk by and you say “What’s up bro, how you doin’,” you know, you get interactions like these,” He says as a student approaches to fist bump him. “You want them to feel okay enough to come to you, talk to you about anything.”