As students gather at the edge of the street while cars quickly drive past, crossing guard Mr. Randy Chavez clears a path through the traffic in his bright neon vest. Mr. Chavez calmly waits in the middle of the street, holding up his bold red stop sign to catch drivers’ attention until the students have passed. Once Mr. Chavez notices all the students have crossed, he moves back to the sidewalk, letting the cars resume on their routes.
Mr. Chavez is one of several crossing guards around Temple City High School that work every day to ensure students can cross the streets safely on their way to school, as well as when they are going home. As part of the school staff, their top priority is student safety.
“I don’t think it’s so much myself,” Mr. Chavez said. “It’s more the pedestrian that needs to know the laws of the streets and if the sidewalks. I just kind of enforce what’s already in place.”
Besides Mr. Chavez, crossing guard Ms. Maggie Chan also works hard to help enforce student safety outside of campus.
“I want people to see that the street is safe,” Ms. Chan said. “So, I help the kids cross the street safely.”
A typical shift for the crossing guards usually lasts for an hour.
Due to the flexible shifts, Mr. Chavez, who had already retired, chose to work as a crossing guard.
As for Ms. Chan, the ability to work close to her daughter at the high school was the reason why she became a crossing guard.
“That job is pretty hard to do,” Sophomore Minh Tran said. “You have to stand in the sun for hours and watch out for cars for the kids and yourself.”
The job comes with several challenges. Even though crossing guards are allowed to issue tickets, one of the biggest problems they face are drivers who do not obey the traffic rules.
“Some of the cars go the wrong way and still make a turn,” Ms. Chan said. “I cannot stop them since I have to watch the kids, and their safety is the most important thing.”
For Mr. Chavez, the ability to work with children and improve student safety makes the job worth all the hardships.
“I’m surrounded by kids,” Mr. Chavez said. “It’s just being around the kids that makes it worth having this job.”
Although the crossing guards that people pass by everyday are often taken for granted, their job is what helps keep the students safe everyday.
“They’re risking their lives every day,” Vice Principal Ms. Elena Li said. “I think what happens when parents get around school areas is that they just get really concerned about their own child, and sometimes they get distracted, and the crossing guards are there to go, ‘Hey! Hold on a second, you need to let these kids go.’”
TCHS School Newspaper