DORCHESTER -- "Good morning! Yes, sir! Have a good day!"

"Good morning! Have a good day, my man!"

"Good morning! Have a good day, sir!"

The endless refrain never loses its passion as it is repeated over and over. The constant smack of hands echoes as security guard John Sergile daps up roughly 1,000 of the 1,400 seventh-12th grade boys walking into Boston College High School in Dorchester each morning, from the early birds to the last stragglers rushing in before classes start at 8:30 a.m. Sergile gets to the school at 7:30 a.m. and leaves at 4:30 p.m., unless there's an after-school sporting event. Even as the rain picked up outside on the morning of Nov. 21, and the steady drip of students ebbed and flowed, Sergile stood outside and greeted every last one, like he does every morning in rain, snow, heat, or cold. It never gets dull for him.

"I love it every day," he told The Pilot.

His hand used to sting from the nonstop dapping, but he's gotten used to it.

Sergile leaned forward to deliver a firm handshake to every student, stretching his entire back out while constantly keeping the door held open with his right foot. Sometimes, he greets students with hugs, high fives, or fist bumps. He wants to give everyone a "warm welcome," he said, though it can be tiring.

He often asks the students how they are doing. When they ask him back, he responds: "Can't complain."

Sergile spread his arms out wide and lifted his head to the sky, exulting in the downpour. As is usual, when he lets the door close behind him, he had to run back and open it for some more students seconds later. His greetings approach a rapid-fire pace whenever a long line of students pours through the door. Their faces light up when they see Sergile. Even the parents dropping off their sons honk at him in appreciation. Some students call him "Boss" or "Boss of the house," but most call him "Bossman."

John "Bossman" Sergile's presence at BC High's front door is as constant and reassuring as the statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola that stands beside him. When he isn't opening doors or patrolling the perimeter, he is manning his desk, which is covered in cards and letters to "Bossman" from students and parents.

"Thank you! For being an amazing friend!" one read.

"Thank you for dapping me up every morning," read another. "You are very nice. You are awesome."

One boy drew a portrait of Jesus for Sergile as a gift. The letter that accompanied it recalls a decisive play by Sergile that caused his team to win the BC High faculty basketball game 69-67.

"You just inspired me to try and play basketball more with my friends," the boy wrote.

"When I see that coming, that's when I say, 'You know what, I'm not doing all of this for nothing,'" Sergile said.

He tapes the cards and letters to his desk so he can be reminded of his "journey."

"Every time I look at them, I'm like, 'okay, nice, nice.'" He said. "'This person's thinking about me. This is beautiful.'"

Sergile, 44, was born in Haiti and grew up attending Catholic schools. He and his nine siblings were raised in a devout community. His mother made clothes for a living. His father came to the U.S. in search of a better life and worked as a cab driver, sending money back to his family in Haiti. Eventually, Sergile's mother got to come to the U.S., then he and all but one of his siblings. Sergile said his childhood was "beautiful" and fondly recalled Haiti's tropical weather. Boston was the opposite of that, but he didn't mind.

"When I came in, I didn't find any difficulties," he said.

He briefly lived in Florida before moving to Boston.

"I stayed for one month," he said. "The humidity, I said, 'I'm out.'"

He came to Boston in 1995 and briefly worked as a cook at Boston College before becoming a security guard in 2000. He first joined the BC High staff in 2022, working as a substitute security guard for a firm that Vice President of Operations Morgan Soutter hired to protect the school.

Speaking to The Pilot, Soutter described the average security guard from the firm as follows: "He sits behind a desk, he essentially has his head down, and has very little interaction with people, and he is ostensibly keeping us safe, and really is doing very little."

Sergile was different. Soutter said that he "effortlessly" stops unauthorized people from coming into the building and does it with such panache that even the people trying to get inside feel good after he rebuffs them. He was so impressed by Sergile's performance that he hired him full-time and dismissed the rest of the security firm. Soutter cannot remember a single day that Sergile called out of work due to illness.

"John is like Wolverine and doesn't seem to ever get sick," he said.

The door holding started when Sergile noticed BC High hockey players struggling to get inside while carrying their gear. After letting them in, he would give them a handshake and say "Good morning, Bossman." The players ended up bouncing the nickname back on him, and it stuck.

"He clearly cares so much about the boys," Soutter said. "He has real relationships with a lot of these boys."

In the middle of the day, Sergile can be found having conversations with the students. He cheers them on at their basketball, football, and soccer games.

"I feel good," he said. "Every time the students say 'Can you help me out?' Yes sir, let's go."

He knows about 100 students by name but never forgets a face. He can instantly recognize a new student and goes out of his way to make them feel welcome. Two years ago, sophomore Aiden McGhie was one of those new students. The previous school he attended had very few Black students and he was worried whether he would fit in at BC High.

"I was introduced by a familiar face, and he was respectful," Aiden told The Pilot. "He gave me a handshake on my first day entering the school. And it made me feel comfortable and welcome here, and I felt like I wasn't going to be left out."

Aiden was going through "personal struggles" and sometimes felt like an outcast.

"Bossman helping me out, speaking to me in the morning, made me kind of feel that I was grounded here," he said. "Like this is my home."

Sergile has gotten to know many of the students and the challenges they face at school and at home. He encourages them with their classwork and "goes easy" on them if they're struggling in their personal lives.

"This is how I am," he said. "This is how I was born, to be nice, welcoming people. That's me."