Hello. I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Anneliese Grassi, & I am the wife to Tony of almost 15 years, and the mother of two beautiful girls who are always keeping me on my toes. I was a travel agent for 26 years for American Express & Travelocity, & am now a transcriptionist & LOVE it. My hobbies are reading, crafting, TV & movies, & of course, spending time with my family.
But I am also a crossing guard for my kids school at Wolman Elementary in the Katy Independent School District. I started the beginning of this school year and it has prompted me to start a blog on my experiences at the school on a daily basis.
I honestly must say--& I am quite embarrassed to say this--I thought that becoming a crossing guard would be a cake job. You stand outside for 30 minutes to an hour, wave cars through, socialize a little bit, wave, & be on my merry way. Now having first-hand experience in being a crossing guard, I can say that that is not the case!!! It is quite a difficult job & I apologize to my fellow crossing guards for ever thinking that!
I will set the stage a little bit here in my first post so that you can have an idea of what happens, or what should happen, for the pick-up & drop-off for the school. Then I will give my account of daily occurrences, and I might have my cohorts help me in writing these as well. So, here it goes...
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Cars riders are to wait on North Firethorne at the entrance of the school until they are notified to enter the front of the campus. Doors to the school do not open until 8:00 am. Cars are to remain in the right-hand land to turn into the school & all through traffic should stay in the left-hand lane & follow the signs & pay attention to the crossing guards.
There is a strict right turn only rule in effect for safety reasons during the drop-off & pick-up times (except for staff & buses). All traffic makes right-hand turns only from 7:50 - 8:50 a.m & 3:10 - 4:10 p.m. This is posted several places in clear view for everyone to see.
If you are driving your child but don't want to wait in the drop off line, there are designated areas (swim team pool) to drop your child so they can safely walk into school. You do not drop them off where ever you feel like it & have them cross the street wherever. Very unsafe!
Do not drop your child off in the teacher/bus parking lot. This causes unnecessary backup & bus drivers can't see the kids if they run through the parking lot.
Okay....so that starts off the basics. I will add as I need to during my posts. But with that being said, here is my first post from this morning's incidents:
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We are currently down two people. One has moved to another school, the other is on vacation, so we are spread a little thin.
1) I am in front of the school, at the marquis, by myself when there are normally two people. I have people waiting at the crosswalk, cars waiting to go through, & cars turning into the school & waiting to come out of the school as well. I stop the traffic coming out of the school & wave the through traffic on towards 1463 & they start to go. A man heading toward South Firethorne has stopped at the crosswalk because he sees people standing there (thank you), but he decides to wave the walkers on through the crosswalk! I have already told the through traffic to go & was heading over there to let the walkers walk, but they need to wait until I say so, not the man in the car! Luckily the driver heading through the intersection stopped, & I got the boy who started to go back on the sidewalk, but that was a very close call!
Note: Drivers, do not communicate to walkers to cross the street. It is not your job & you don't know who I have waved through or stopped. Walkers, please do not listen to anyone other than the crossing guards when it comes to crossing the street!
2) As mentioned above, there is a traffic pattern for pick-up & drop-off. On North Firethorne, heading toward 1463, Left lane: through traffic; right lane: turn right into the school. There are no cars in the through traffic lane so I am waving the traffic coming out of the school to turn right. The lady is hesitant, but I am waving her on. Still, no car in the through traffic lane, only the turn lane. Finally, she starts to go but at the same time a car from the turn into the school lane decides to go straight! Almost hitting me & the car turning out of the school! The car turning out of the school raises her hand & shakes her head at me like it's my fault.
Luckily, no one was hurt today, just my feeling of being unsettled when people don't follow the rules. Because if they don't follow the rules, & something happens on my watch, I'm responsible! Please follow the rules. If there is anything that you are unsure of, please ask one of the crossing guards, or call the school.
Thank you & stay tuned for more episodes of A Day in the Life of a Crossing Guard.
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