Meet Maricela Del Rio! Maricela is a School Resource Officer with the Gainesville Police Department. She has been a lifelong Gainesville resident and graduated from West Hall High School. 

We want to thank Marcela for spending time with us recently and telling us more about her life and love of Hall County.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your job as a School Resource Officer. 

A: “I just rotate around through the elementary schools. I’m a assigned to the six elementary schools that we have in the city. I do Advance with the fifth graders, which is kind of like the DARE program, but we adopted it from the county. It’s eight lessons about alcohol and tobacco awareness, the effects that drugs have on your body. Also, gang and violence awareness–ways for them to make better decisions and what to look out for once they get into middle school and high school.”

Q: Please tell us a little bit about you and your family.  

A: “I was born here in Gainesville, so I’ve grown up here. My parents are from Mexico and they moved here in the early 80s. They initially moved to Illinois and that’s where my two older sisters were born and then my parents moved down here to Gainesville. I went to West Hall High School and then Lanier Tech here in Gainesville. I started working with GDP when I was 22 years old. I always wanted to be a police officer…I was on patrol for about three years, an opening came up with the school resource officers and so I applied for it. I like being out with the community.”

Q: What do you love most about what you do?

A: “My favorite thing about my career is that I get to work and help the community that I grew up and live in.”

Q: What do you do for fun when you’re not working? 

A: “When I’m not at work, I like to like work out at the gym, hang out with my friends or go out to eat.”

Q: What are some of your favorite restaurants in Gainesville?

A: “I like sushi. I don’t really have a specific favorite one. There’s a place in Oakwood called ‘Wasabi.’ They have really good sushi there. I like pizza. I like going to Mellow Mushroom or Atlas. There’s just so many options around here.”

Q: What was the first movie you saw in the theater? 

A: “I feel like my first memory was ‘Anastasia.’ Maybe I saw that one at school, but the other movie that I specifically remember watching was ‘Big Daddy’ with Adam Sandler. I think I was in middle school when I watched it.”

Q: What’s one of your favorite things about Hall County? 

A: “I like it here because you get a little bit of everything, it’s not too big, but it’s not too small either. There’s always something to do, there’s the lake and the trails.”

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would you wanna have lunch with?

A: “I would probably have lunch with one of my great-great grandmothers just so I could find a little history out about myself, about our family and exactly where we came from.”

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? 

A: “I’d probably go to Alaska…I’ve always wanted to go up north and see the wildlife up there. I like bears and moose.”

Q: What’s your favorite time of music? Or favorite musicians? 

A: “I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but I would say my very favorite is a band called Death Cab for Cutie. I also really like Blink-182.”

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?

A: “I really like where I’m at now but I would like to get a little bit more experience within the school system. I was here for two years and then Covid hit and left a unit and now I’m back.”

Q: What’s something you would rate a 10 out of 10? 

A: “I’m trying to think about my favorite dessert here in Gainesville. Nothing Bundt Cakes White Chocolate Raspberry is a 10 out of 10. I have a sweet tooth.”