Ok, here's some dirt on all the staff from 1999-early 2000. It's hard to remember everyone, but I'll do my best.
(note: I don't know everyone's full name, because we just called the staff by their first names)
Sandy- She had long blonde hair, maybe in her 40's? She was mean at first and liked to tell people they were being "ornery". She also liked to make the students "take a chair" (when you had to take a chair, face it toward the wall, sit with your arms on the armrest, sit up straight, and stare at the wall forever) and she would often not let them get up to go to the bathroom.
Allison- She was also one of the meanest there. She was morning staff on orientation and investment, she had short brown hair and big eyes, she liked to call dial 9's (when all the staff dogpile on a kid and restrain them). She seemed pretty abusive. She had a temper and sometimes threw things at the kids. She also would flip over your mattress if you didn't wake up right away, even if you were on the top bunk. She liked to accuse people of things they never did. Also, if you had to write a contract (for a class II infraction or whatever, she would rarely accept it the first time and you'd have to serve your points over again.
Clara- She was heavyset, in her 20's. She used to live in Santa Clara, which I thought was funny. She was usually staff during the day while we were at school. She wasn't too bad except for the fact that she would force you to let her read your mail. She got called on a lot of the dial 9's.
Brandon- Investment staff. He was in his mid twenties. He acted gay, he was very swishy and talked with a lisp (not that that's a problem, I'm just describing him). He liked to gossip about the girls there with Kirsten. I heard rumors that he was abusive.
Kirsten- In her twenties. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, looked nice, but was kinda strange. She and one of the students, (initials E.O.), had a really weird obsessive relationship and she used to take the girl on "home visits" quite often as I remember. She was a really BIG gossip and would blabber all day about the student's personal lives without caring who overheard her.
Codey- Investment staff. She looked like the youngest one there, I didn't know her that well, but she was kinda clownish and would joke a lot, but it would sometimes get some of the younger girls excited and riled, and they'd forget themselves, and then laugh out of turn or something, and then she'd punish them.
Shannon- Unit II staff. She was actually pretty mellow. She would at least try to comfort you if you were having a bad day, and would listen if you needed to talk. She left because she was having a baby.
JoAnna- She was really tall and had short, curly black hair (I remember some of the girls called her broccoli-head) She liked to pick-on the girls, and she would tease them all the time. She would call them names, and laugh in their faces.
Heidi- Slender, tan, and short blonde hair. I didn't know her that well either, but she was the staff that once came back from the young boy's unit with blood on her shirt.
Nofo- She was pretty nice too, I mean all the staff kinda got wrapped up in the power-game, but Nofo was also pretty nice and would listen and seemed to care.
D'arcy- She was a very tall, intimidating-looking woman. Blonde. At first she was really nice and tried to do extra things for the girls, like bringing them books to read, and helping them with their homework. But I think she kinda power-tripped after awhile, she started to get really mean and was often involved in restraining the students.
Jenna- Kinda built like D'arcy, she had a timid-sounding voice. Also blonde. She got called on a lot of the dial 9's too. I didn't know her that well as she was on unit 3.
J.C.- Also unit 3 staff. She had long curly brown hair. I didn't know her that well 'cause I wasn't on her unit. I heard a rumor that she and D'arcy got involved in some sort of scandal with a couple of the students, anyone know the story behind this?
SENIOR STAFF
Lorna Hall- Absolutely the meanest staff there. She was short, fat, and kinda an eyesore. I have a felling she was so mean because she felt bad about her self. I think that some of the other staff were actually afraid of her, too. She wasn't always there, but when she was she would be putting people on chairs, on investment, or in obs (the solitary room) left and right. She called a dial-9 on you for anything- rolling your eyes, or saying "I'm going to the restroom" instead of asking if you may go to the restroom. She pulled my hair once and pulled a huge chunk out. She also, when throwing me into obs, dug her nails into my arm so badly that it bled.
Cathy Hurly- She was usually in charge of the Hotel girls, driving them to and from the Howard Johnson's. She once broke her wrist or thumb or something during a dial-9 and had to wear a sling. Also, during the beginning of my stay, I do believe it was her son, who looked in his early-mid twenties, watching the girls in obs on investment.
Danielle Fishel (or Fisher?)- Petite blonde, she was nice-looking, but always had a mean expression on her face. She was pretty ruthless with handing out punishments and infractions, and liked to blame the kids for things they had no control over. I heard she moved to California?
Ok, the others I had little to no experience with so I couldn't really say. Oh yeah, I remember the therapist Jeanette Brown had some pretty strange approaches to therapy. She and some of the other therapists would put people on "standing orders" like they would have to flip a coin to tell if they were lying, and if it came up the wrong side they got a class II, they had ones where students were not allowed to talk to people on certain levels, or just not allowed to talk at all, ones where two students would be paired, and if one got in trouble, the other got the same punishment as the first did, even if she wasn't involved. I could go on forever. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
