Jarred Jallah
Class of 2014, Freire High
IT Cybersecurity Specialist,
U.S. Department of Defense
On weekday mornings at a secure government site in Washington, D.C., Jarred Jallah logs into a world most people will never see. Behind layers of encrypted access, he safeguards the networks and data that keep the country running. “I’m kind of like a goalkeeper,” he says. “My job is to make sure the bad guys don’t get in.”
It’s a far cry from his days walking down Chestnut Street as a teenager toward Freire Charter High School, where he spent his days in AP classes, tutoring for Math and English, competing in baseball and cross country, and going out for lunch with friends. But in many ways, that’s where his cybersecurity journey began, in the small, close-knit classrooms of a downtown charter school that taught him to think critically, communicate clearly, and believe that being smart was something to celebrate.
“In a lot of schools, the focus is just fitting in, especially growing up where I did,” Jarred says. “But at Freire, I had the opportunity to take honors classes, to be challenged, and to be proud of being smart. Freire made being smart cool. That really stuck with me.”
At Freire, Jarred found teachers and mentors. His math teacher, also named Jared, became a mirror and a model. “He talked to us in our language, you know? He’d use Philly slang, make it relatable,” Jarred laughs. “Math class was fun. That’s what hooked me.”
After high school, Jarred joined the Cybersecurity Defense Initiative, a federal program that recruits and trains young professionals to protect critical systems. Years later, when he applied for graduate school at George Washington University, it was Mr. Jared who wrote his letter of recommendation. Thereafter, his career defending the nation’s digital frontiers at the Department of Defense took flight.
Now, in his day-to-day life, the work is demanding with long hours, evolving threats, and the constant tension of protecting what can’t afford to break, but Jarred thrives in the challenge. “The work is dynamic—the ‘bad guys’ are always evolving, so we have to stay sharp.”
“Sometimes I’m a work junkie, and they literally have to kick me out of the space at the end of the day,” he says, grinning.
Still, when he talks about success, it isn’t the Top Secret clearance level or the government badge that come up first. It’s the sense of purpose that Freire instilled in him—the reminder that education is a launchpad, not an endpoint. “Freire taught me to give back,” he says. “That started with community service in school, and it’s why I still volunteer today. I understand that I’m on the shoulders of giants, and they were able to help me be a part of the community, and it’s my job to do the same for the next generation. I’m where I am because others helped me, and now it’s my turn.”
When asked what advice he’d give current students, Jarred doesn’t hesitate. “Stay close to your teachers,” he says. “They’re your biggest resource. When they push you, it’s because they care.” It’s advice born of experience and humility. “I wasn’t always the best student,” he admits. “But Freire gave me structure, resources, and belief in myself. It made me who I am today.”
A decade after graduating, Jarred still keeps in touch with his classmates, the friends who once filled those narrow hallways and now fill a group chat that never goes quiet. “We just had our ten-year reunion in D.C.,” he says. “We still hang out.”
In the end, Jarred’s story is a reminder that the lessons learned in small classrooms can echo in the biggest arenas, even the ones sealed behind layers of security clearances. Freire taught him to think, to care, to connect. The rest, as he might say, was just good coding.