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Students smother beloved security guard with hugs on last day of school

A sweet video shows a beloved security guard saying goodbye to students for the summer.

Most mornings, Jonathan Broadnax waves and greets students and parents at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw Georgia, as he has done for years.

Thursday morning, as he was standing at his post on the last day of school, a group of second-graders swallowed him with hugs as they prepared to leave for summer break.

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The young children wanted to thank Broadnax for keeping them safe every day -- something he has dedicated his life to doing.

Broadnax is an Army veteran who came to work for the Chesley Brown International security company more than a decade ago after a full career in the military.

Chesley Brown CEO Brent Brown said Broadnax was quickly promoted to several positions before becoming the security director assigned to a large, complicated and critical property.

Brown saw a need at Mount Paran, and although it was a much smaller program, he knew Broadnax would be a perfect fit. Brown only planned to keep Broadnax there for a short period of time, to get the program up to standard, but that was years ago.

Broadnax fell in love with Mount Paran and the school members fell in love with him.

He could have retired, but he hasn't.

“He felt he was needed and he cared deeply for the kids that he and his team are responsible for keeping safe,” Brown said. “After the tragic loss of his own adult son, any lesser man would have called it a day and gone home, but he stayed.”

He stayed with the school that has had his back since day one; the school family rallied around him during the rough times after his son's death.

“When his son passed, the school rallied around him. I can't tell you how many parents, teachers and staff thank me for putting Jonathan and his team there,” Brown said.

Broadnax's connection to the community is evident in the special moment captured in the video. Brown said it's a visual representation of the Chesley Brown mission: “To go home every day proud of who we are, what we do and how we do it.”

Brown added that the kids in the video show just how far a simple expression of love can go.

"These kids that made that simple gesture are incredible. They are our future and I'm feeling pretty good about it right now," he said.