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Janisia Magallanes Stopped Bullying at Her School, Now She Protects Hundreds

In Brief:

  • 🐱 Anti-Bullying Action: Magallanes helped reduce bullying at Choctaw High School by organizing a student-led cat ear initiative.

  • 👮 Current Role: She serves as a school resource officer at Walton County High School, focusing on safety, mentorship, and student interactions.

  • 💛 Community Impact: Her personal experiences drive her commitment to helping students navigate challenges, while earning respect from colleagues and the community.

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Nine years ago, Janisia Magallanes creatively took a stand for other students who were bullied for wearing cat ears. 

 

Now, she’s a Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy who, every school day, walks the halls of Walton County High School in DeFuniak Springs – making sure kids at the DeFuniak Springs school are safe and cared for. 

 

Cat Ears to End Bullying

Some students, who were big fans of Japanese Cartoons, anime, received cruel comments and snide remarks. It hurt, and someone had to stand up for them. 

 

Instead of duking it out in the hallways of Choctaw High School – though she took a couple of hits splitting up fights in the hallways, too – she and several other students decided to clean out the hobby stores and make cat ears to wear for themselves. 

 

Soon, the cat ears were on most everyone’s heads around the school. By day four, more than 500 students at the high school were wearing cat ears. 

 

“There were some really awful comments being made about them,” she remembered, “you know, we would go through classes and talk to kids or go through our classes and pass them out. We had kids crying, we would cry. We talked about what we witnessed happening and that it wasn’t ok.”

 

After the gesture, Magallanes remembers a significant reduction in bullying of that group of students. 

 

“I felt very accomplished,” Magallanes remembers, “because we showed that we were not going to let that happen.”



On The Job In Walton County 

 

Magallanes graduated a couple of years later and had to decide between the Air Force and a career in law enforcement. 

 

She has a sibling about 10 years younger than her and wanted to be around them, so she decided to get her law enforcement certification and join the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. 

 

“I feel like I have to stand up for people,” Magallanes said about her job as a Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy, “I’m an older sister, that’s kind of what older sisters do.”

 

Each day holds new blessings, challenges, and surprises for Magallanes and her partner, the other school resource officer at the school.

 

As we patrol the school hallways, most of the kids interact with her. They say hi or try to get her to look at their hand in a prank game similar to “The Circle Game” that we old people used to play back in the day. 

 

It’s clear they are pretty comfortable with her – and less comfortable with the guy walking next to her with a camera. 

 

While she tries to interact with all of the students at the school, she admits it’s the students who may have discipline issues that she sees the most of. She’d love to split he time evenly amongst all of the kids – but says she believes God has her interacting with the right kids most of the time – the kids her personal life experience can help her reach more than others. 

 

“I grew up very, very rough. I had a rough upbringing – grew up in an abusive home, “Magallanes said, “High School was probably the worst time for me. I had Air Force Unit ROTC instructors and had pastors that surrounded me to be able to help to me grow in the appropriate way that I feel like I needed and give me that mentorship that I feel like I needed to get where I am, because I was probably going to turn down a dark path. I like being able to, in a way, give back and do that with these kids.”

 

As we walk through the halls at mid-morning, most of the kids are inside a classroom. It’s testing day, so there is almost no traffic in the halls. Magallanes walks around checking doors to ensure they are locked – a reality of education in the 21st century where Law Enforcement and Educators have to think about the potential for school shootings at all times. 

 

“It’s a responsibility, but I wholeheartedly love it,’ she notes, “It fills my heart with joy every single moment that I get to be here.” 

 

But the reality of threats hangs around in the ether around the school. The potential for a shooting, she notes, keeps her on her toes and informs her attention to detail – as well as her empathy for students at all times. 

 

After about an hour, students emerge from their classrooms and begin to head to other classes or to lunch. Girls walk with Deputy Magallanes and ham for the camera. One girl, on her way to lunch a little early, tells Deputy Magallanes, who participated extensively in Air Force JROTC, that she’s planned to enlist in the Air Force after graduation. 

 

Her favorite part about being a deputy, “It’s going to honestly sound cliché, but to help,” she says when she’s asked, “I volunteer with my church on Sundays and Wednesday night, and I work with more kids there. It’s just in every aspect of my life.”

 

Community Impact 

We reached out to the Okaloosa County School District, Walton County School District, and Walton County Sheriff’s Office about this story and Deputy Magallanes’s contributions to the community. 

“It doesn’t surprise me at all to hear that Deputy Magallanes was standing up for others long before she ever put on a badge,” said Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson. “She’s always had a heart for people. That early act of empathy and leadership is exactly what makes her such a trusted and respected presence in our schools today.”

Dr. Lee Hale served as principal of Choctaw High School for three of the four years Magallanes attended. He said, “I’m proud of Janisia. It’s no surprise she’s serving as a School Resource Officer—she has the right mindset and heart for working with students. Every SRO I’ve worked with has brought professionalism, care, and a steady presence to the school. It takes a special kind of person to do that well, and Janisia absolutely fits that bill.”

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