Christopher Niner has been a security guard here at the school for three years. In that brief time, he has fostered connections with hundreds of students, becoming a positive influence on both the school and the student body.

Before becoming a security guard, Niner attended HHS and furthered his studies at Eastern Michigan University. All throughout Niner’s academic career, he played football in the position of a wide receiver, which furthered his hopes of pursuing a coaching profession. However, at the time he aspired to be a football coach, many schools required coaches to also be teachers at their schools. As a result, Niner chose to teach math, taking a teaching and coaching position with Grand Rapids Public Schools. At one of the school’s football games, security guard Eric Naderveld, Niner’s cousin, notified Niner of an open position at the school, but it was only part-time. Unsure of what to do, Niner waited until a full-time position opened up, allowing him to join the school's security guard team. He started his new job halfway through the school year.

Niner, outside of school hours, enjoys working out, sports, and yard work. While Niner doesn’t have any kids of his own, he attends many of his niece’s college volleyball games and his two nephews’ college football games. Apart from sports, he also loves board games, his favorite being a game called Balderdash—a guessing and bluffing game filled with obscure words or false answers that heighten the mind. If Niner could give any advice to the school’s student body, it would be to stay kind, be humble, and to “do unto others as you do to yourself”—meaning: treat others the way you would want to be treated, otherwise known as the Golden Rule.

In Niner’s short time at the school, he has already made a lasting impact on many of the students, graduates, and staff members. He can be found holding the pool lot doors open at the start and end of the school day or guarding the lunches and initiating momentary conversations or strolling the halls with his fellow staff, but wherever Niner is, merriment sparks and lasting connections are made.