Tuesday Is Crossing Guard Appreciation Day
Believe it or don’t.
May 1st is Crossing Guard Appreciation Day in the State of Illinois.
No. Seriously. No kidding.
Since 2005, Illinois has been recognizing the important work of getting kids to school safely each day by designating the first day of May annually to encourage people to show appreciation for their local crossing guards.
“They put their lives at stake every day for our kids and are some of the bravest, most crucial resources for making walking and biking to school safe,” says Ethan Spotts, a spokesperson for the Active Transportation Alliance, a local group that promotes biking, walking and alternative transportation choices.
Spotts says, by their group’s estimate and data from the Chicago Police Department from two years ago, approximately 1500 crossing guards are deployed citywide. But Spotts believes there should be more.
“We would say that there certainly should be more crossing guards,” says Spotts. “With more than 600 schools in CPS, which doesn’t count parochial or private schools, the 1,500 official crossing guards, even if equally distributed, still calls for a need to increase the number of guards shepherding our children.”
Active Trans takes an active role in this day of appreciation every year and encourages people to nominate their crossing guard to be honored and/or print out a certificate of appreciation at the Active Trans website.
So Spotts says, on Tuesday pickup some flowers, bake some cookies, buy some candy to show your local crossing guard how much you appreciate their hard work–especially when it’s cold, raining or snowing.
Photo copyright and courtesy of TheeErin’s Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theeerin/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
I WOULD TO NOMINATE MRS BARBARA MESSER FOR OUR FAVOIRTE CROSSING GUARD SHE HAS GONE BEYOND HER DUTIES SHE RISK HER LIFE EVERYDAY TO MAKE OUR CHILDREN MAKE IT TO THEIR DESTINATION. SHE MAKES IT A POINT TO WAIT FOR PEOPLE TO COME BACK AFTER TAKING THERE KIDS TO SCHOOL WHAT CROSSING GUARD DOES THAT WHEN SHE CROSSING THE KIDS SHE ALWAYS AHEAD OF EVERYONE SO JUST IN CASE SOMEONE TAKE THE STOP SHE BE THE ONLY ONE INJURY SO WE AS A COMMITTEE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE MRS MESSER SHE BEEN CROSSING THAT CORNER SINCE MY KIDS WERE YOUNG NOW SHE CROSSING MY GRANDDAUGHTER I JUST TO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND THANK HER SINCE WHAT SHE DOES SEEM TO GO UNAWARE BY TALCOTT SCHOOL OFFICIALS BUT TO US PARENTS SHE IS OUR WALKING ANGEL THANK MS TRINI RAMIREZ 312-532-1940
YES I AGREE WITH THIS WOMAN I ALSO AM A CROSSING GUARD ,BARBARA MESSER WAS MY CHILDREN CROSSING GUARD I HAVE KNOW BARBARA FOR A VERY LONG TIME SHE IS THE REASON I AM A CROSSING GUARD TODAY, BARBARA IS A 72 YEAR OLD WOMAN AND HAS BEEN A CROSSING GUARD FOR 33 YEARS, SHE WORKS OUT OF THE 13TH WOOD ST. DIST, THE PARENTS AND CHILDREN OF THE TALCOTT SCHOOL SHOULD BE VERY THANKFUL FOR BARBARA MESSER AS SHE GOES TO HER CROSSING RAIN ,SNOW,HOT ,COLD , AND EVEN WHEN SHE IS SICK, AS BARBARA IS A GOOD WONDERFUL WOMEN WHO PUTS HER HEART AND SOLE INTO HER JOB, AND I DO HAVE TO SAY SHAME ON TALCOTT SCHOOL FOR NOT SHOWING HER THE RESPECT ON CROSSING GUARD APPRECIATION DAY…….
THANK U
Karen Kuffel