On Patrol

Students volunteer as crossing guards as part of after school program

EPHRATA — Local students are a little safer when crossing the streets that surround each of Ephrata's elementary schools, thanks to their fellow classmates.

Crossing guards help keep the streets safe after school each day, and those crossing guards also attend classes as students at the school. The students are volunteers in a program called Safety Patrol, which allows them to help keep the streets safe after class. The program has been in existence at the schools for several years.

Grant Elementary School counselor Eli Garcia is in charge of the program at his school, and he said it is one method to teach leadership roles to the students. He said the program also allows his fourth-graders to perform a community service after their school day ends. At the beginning of the school year, the crossing guards receive training from law enforcement on the proper procedures they are to follow.

"It's really neat," Garcia said of the program, "because we just wanted to keep the intersections really safe."

The students are armed with the same neon vest and "STOP" flag as their adult counterparts at other schools. The students' jobs are quick, crossing guards only spend about five to 10 minutes helping their fellow students cross the intersections before themselves heading home for the day.

In keeping their classmates safe, Garcia said the students are encouraged to write down the license plate of anyone who violates traffic laws while the crossing guards are working.

Parkway Elementary School Counselor Rhonda Hagy has volunteers from the fifth and sixth grades in her program. She said the program is designed to instill responsibility into the students, and that they are almost able to perform their crossing guard duties without outside help. The students are supervised by teachers and parent volunteers.

Parkway fifth-grader Jared Rang is one of the school's volunteer crossing guards. Rang said he enjoys his position as a crossing guard because it helps him help the community, but added that the job allows him to get out of class five minutes before the bell rings.

Bob Bischoff is the school counselor at Columbia Ridge Elementary School, and the fourth-graders are the ones keeping the roads safe at his school.

A rotation schedule changes depending on what school the kids are in, but counselors said the rotation gives every student an opportunity to serve. The crossing guards may ask cars to stop, but Bischoff said the guards won't stall the flow of traffic.

"We're not out there to stop traffic," Bischoff said, "We're there to keep the traffic moving."

At Columbia Ridge, the crossing guards are stationed at two per intersection, and have an adult supervisor at every crossing.

"It's fun, the kids enjoy it," Bischoff said of the program.

The program is a volunteer one at each of the schools, and each of the counselors said they have no problem recruiting crossing guards.

"Oh they love it," Bischoff said, "they fight for it."