Page 22 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – January 2021

Continued from page 19
I was very
proud to be
part of Pilgrim
Elementary School
Patrol for three
years, rising in the
ranks from regular
Patrol to Sergeant
to Lieutenant to
Captain. I reported
jaywalkers, fights
and helped older people and kindergarteners to safely cross the street.
We had regular “Patrol Meetings” at which jaywalkers were “paddled” by Mr. Green. We also held peer elections to vote for “officers’ positions” based on performance.
We wore yellow raincoats and black galoshes on rainy and snowy days and we never left our post until the final bell had rung, at which point we’d wave our flag poles to signal all Patrol to report to the Patrol Room to hang up our gear.
I remember my mother washing my white Patrol belt every week. I felt special and important with this responsibility.
I’ll NEVER forget it.
Diana Prysock Columbus, Ohio
My late husband and I met at a Parents Without Partners party. Small talk led us to realize we both grew up in Upper Arlington. He was five years older than me so our paths never crossed. Or so we thought. Come to find out he was my crossing guard at Wickliffe Elementary School when I was in kindergarten.
Barbara Streets
I attended Como Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio. In my school, you had to be a sixth grader to be a Patrol member. This was back when everyone was a
“walker.” Furthermore, we all walked home for lunch and back again, except for a handful
of kids whose mom’s worked outside the home and brought a “pack” lunch.
There were no cafeterias. I lived pretty far from school, so I would be assigned the Weber Road crosswalk post. We were out there rain or shine, cold or hot. I am attaching a picture my mom saved of the patrols from my school that year (I’m on the far left in the top row by my twin sister), and a current pic of me holding my pin.
Cathy Shinaberry
Stingel Elementary AAA School Safety Patrol students continue their dedication to keep their classmates safe as they travel to and from school, but, like everything else, it looks a little different this year.
“In order to keep our patrollers as healthy as possible, our Captain and Lieutenant make sure the patrollers use hand sanitizer,” said Tod Petit, Stingel Elementary School’s AAA School Safety Patrol advisor. “They also make sure the team is standing at least six feet away from the next patroller while out on the bus ramp. Finally, masks need to be worn 100% of the time, as long as they are on duty and on school grounds.”
To help with this last part, AAA provided free Safety Patrol face masks to all students.