Around 15 elementary schoolers were clustered together waiting at the crosswalk in front of Belinder Elementary School, chattering in the 60-degree afternoon air after a full school day. They stood behind a painted six-inch yellow line labeled “STOP.”
“What happened to your eye?” a kid in a bright green outfit asked.
“I got hit by a hockey stick!” another kid with a mullet answered proudly.
SM East parent Anne Lock laughs. Wearing a neon vest and visor, and rocking pink-tinted sunglasses, she presses the pedestrian button and steps onto the red-and-white crosswalk. She raises her bright red handheld stop sign. Her wide smile and wave act as a signal for the kids to go.
The loud, colorful cluster moves across the street — with some kids gripping a parent’s hand or others a hot pink scooter.
For Anne, this has become routine.
Every weekday for the past four years, she’s been at Belinder from 7:40 to 8:40 a.m. and 3 to 3:30 p.m., working as a crossing guard — a job she took up unexpectedly after the former crossing guard passed away.
“I'm the first adult non-parent that [the kids] see,” Anne said. “It really helps just to be really nice and smiley. Not all kids like going to school — maybe they'll get nervous or cry going in the door. I like being there and just being real.”
Anne knows around 80 elementary schoolers by name. She keeps track of who presses the pedestrian button each morning for three siblings, making sure Richie, Hank or Joey don't have a turn two days in a row.
And every day, one boy comes up to Anne with a new stuffed animal to show her. She now knows that his stuffed eagle has a collar.
“These parents probably don't realize how much I know,” Anne said. “I know what they have for breakfast. Half the time, I won’t even ask them a question. They just come up and tell me things.”
But the job can be tough at times. Every February, Anne tells her husband she’s going to quit because of the cold.
“I wear snow pants if it’s below 40 degrees,” Anne said. “I have hand warmers and a heated vest that I got in a white elephant gift exchange. Then I wear three sweatshirts, and I have a huge jacket that the crossing guard company gave me. I don't care how stupid I look.”
But even when she’s dressed like a neon snowman in the middle of winter, she says the reason she sticks with the job is simple. She just likes seeing the kids.
“Even on the coldest or rainiest day, I still cross at least 30 or 40 kids,” Anne said. “It's really nice to be able to be there for them. And I know all of their names. They know me. I know their parents.”
Her son, junior Harrison Lock, has kept his mom company at the crosswalk around 10 times over the past four years, stopping by to say hello to old teachers and see Anne in action.
The first time he visited, he expected the job to be more of a “teacher thing.” Instead, he noticed how eager the kids were to talk to her.
“Even compared to the nicer teachers, I feel like they like her even more,” Harrison said.
He’s also heard stories about the unpredictable side of the job: bad drivers. Harrison said a car laid on its horn at his mom a month ago. Other times, drivers have blown through intersections right before she signals students to cross.
While Anne has had to raise her voice at a student once or twice, Harrison said that usually isn’t necessary. Most of the time, the kids listen.
“When she talks about [crazy drivers] she seems surprised, but I bet when it happens, she's pretty relaxed because that's how she is in those situations,” Harrison said. “She focuses more on the kids and making sure they don't [run across].”
At Hy-Vee over spring break, Anne ran into one of the elementary students she sees at Belinder every day.
Without her neon vest and hat, he didn’t recognize her at first — something she says happens often. So she gave him a hint, holding up her hand and saying “stop.”
When school started again, a teacher told Anne about a spring break assignment: three sentences about what each student did. The boy wrote about seeing Anne at Hy-Vee.
“You don't even realize the impact that you have,” Anne said. “The kid I saw at HyVee went back and told his whole class that was his highlight of spring break. I think that family went to Seaside, [Florida], too, and he didn't even mention that. He mentioned seeing me.”
Interesting point about the preparation time. I've found that sometimes, spending an extra ten minutes on prep, like those lessons from izmirblog, really elevates the final dish. It's usually worth the effort for me.