By Teresa Fawcett
There’s a silent buzz in the vents as I am welcomed into the sunny front office – a venue co-inhabited by Lake Forest High School’s top security and safety employees. One of them, Mr. Scott Krajniak, welcomes me and introduces himself with some light, self-deprecating humor when I explain the mission of my column, “Real, Ordinary People” in The Forest Scout news website, to share the stories of important community members that help run our town: “You mean kids ask, ‘who’s that old guy with the white hair?’” he asks, laughing.
Mr. Krajniak is the Head of Security at LFHS. He oversees emergency plans, plans the fire drills, lockdown drills, and all the “behind the scenes stuff” that goes on for special events including Homecoming, Prom, and football and basketball games. Needless to say, he is vital to the operation of many of LFHS’ major events. Students have probably seen him in the halls, sporting his navy blue LFHS security collared shirt or his neon vest.
Mr. Krajniak grew up in Wauconda, Illinois on 10 acres of vacant land with horses, rabbits, and chickens, hunting, fishing, and “all things like that,” he mentioned. He knew since he was a kid that he wanted to go into law enforcement, and after a semester at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, he applied to become a police officer at Lake County, Lake Forest, or Zion. He was accepted at Lake Forest first, and from there he enjoyed a 26-year career with the Lake Forest Police Department.
Lake Forest High School’s Head of Security Mr. Scott Krajniak.
After retiring from the LFPD in 2006, Krajniak became the Head of Safety and Security at LFHS.
With his bright neon vest draped over the back of his desk chair, Krajniak leaned back in his comfortable office chair, puzzled in thought. It was difficult for him to articulate his answer to my next question: describe his favorite part of his job here at LFHS. Behind him, his computer screen flickered as it played the live security footage of the cameras displayed around the school. Krajniak took a moment to find his answer.
Evidently, Krajniak finds the majority of his job exciting and enjoyable. However, eventually, he did find the words to sum up the favorite part of his job. “The energy” of the school, he elaborated. “It’s never boring, it’s always on the go.” Whether that entails his roles at football games, dances, sports, concerts, or plays, Mr. Krajniak finds the atmosphere at LFHS something that always keeps him on his toes.
As to a favorite memory at LFHS? For Krajniak, that was a difficult question to answer. He had to take an afternoon to think about it. After spending 12 years working in the Security offices, he has many stories to share. However, it’s his friendship with Michael Rohrs, until very recently an employee of LFHS whom Krajniak has known since Rohrs went to high school here, that is one of Krajniak’s favorite memories at the school. Rohrs, who moved on to be a police officer in Las Vegas in early October , had been a sort-of understudy to Krajniak, who helped him learn the information that he would need for a job on the force.
For the past few years, Krajniak and Rohrs had been vying against each other in a friendly, yet competitive scaring contest. Krajniak would hide under desks, move ceiling tiles, or come in after work hours just to give Rohrs the biggest scare he could offer.
After 12 years at the high school, Krajniak is no rookie to the halls of Lake Forest High School. He has been working in the Lake Forest community for 36 years, and he knows the ins and outs of the Lake Forest streets and knows the school forwards and backwards. He is a man who works under the humming vents in a sunny room in the front of the school, keeping LFHS safe as a watchman of sorts.
He is a Real, Ordinary retired police officer and current head of Security at LFHS who does more than just protect our building. He, like many other security staff members, are the keepers of the coveted positive “energy” that resides within Lake Forest High School. You can’t put a price on safety, and you certainly can’t put a price on an employee as loyal and as dedicated as Mr. Scott Krajniak.
Inspired by the title of the Lake Forest-based movie Ordinary People, in her column “Real Ordinary People,” Lake Forest High School senior Teresa Fawcett outlines the stories and the lives of the real, ordinary people from the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff communities.