Standing at 6 feet 5 inches tall, Rick Haskins could be said to cut a fairly imposing figure.

As the campus security officer for Central Kitsap High School, the former high-school football quarterback knows that, on occasion, his size has been an asset in his job.

Haskins said he knows there have been moments when he has had to be tough, but he also has strived to balance that with being fair.

Haskins has been voted the Central Kitsap School District’s classified employee of the year and he said that being firm and fair were both a part of the relationship he seeks to build with students on a daily basis.

It is his professionalism as well as his personal relationships with students that school officials cited as much of the reason behind his being afforded the honor of classified employee of the year.

Haskins has been the campus security officer at the high school for fifteen years, since retiring from the U.S. Navy.

Haskins said, after retiring from the military, he was looking for a way to stay engaged with the community on a professional basis and he decided on working with young people because of the enjoyment it offers him.

“I like the interaction with the students and being able to give some direction when I can,” he said.

Haskins believes that a major component of his job and offering direction to the students is to model a standard of personal accountability.

“You in yourself have to keep a certain standard,” he said. “That helps to give them guidance and to maintain all the rights and responsibilities they are supposed to be accountable for themselves.”

Haskins said he was surprised at being awarded the honor, and he saw himself as only a part of a community effort to help young people. He said working with students’ parents, as well as others in the community helped to complete a formula of being engaged with young people.

Haskins, who has seen two of his sons graduate from the high school, said he sees himself, other parents and the community as part of a circle that surrounds the students and protects and guides them.

Haskins said he has seen the larger community make a difference as an elder at Faith Temple, where he attends church, as well as affording students the opportunity to work with him at a summer job he held with the Washington State Department of Ecology until funding was cut.

Steve Coons, the principal of Central Kitsap High School, said Haskins provides rock-solid security at the school and much more.

“Rick is a talented professional and is always caring,” Coons said. “He works well with the kids and maintains a good base of security at the same time.”

Haskins said he intends to keep working at the school and looks forward to interacting with the students in the future. He said the students feel like they can talk with him and show it in their interaction with him.

“They just call me Rick,” he said.