Rick McDaniel
Stockton
Sure it’s summer, but remember our crossing guards!
Denise Maples is our crossing guard at Stockton School and has been for years. She has safely crossed thousands of children, thousands of times. 360 times per year per child!
So why call attention to her efforts? What is it about her job that makes it worth reading about. One word applies to her job that not many people think about. In fact, there are people who clearly do not think about her job at all as they come barreling through our town, on their cell phone or otherwise distracted. The word is “danger.” That’s right, Denise faces it every day.
Do you know there are 5,390 crossing guards in the state of New Jersey? What is amazing is that 11 were killed last year and over 120 have been killed in the past 10 years in the line of duty.
On a typical school day in our small town, children are clearly in the area, yellow lights flashing at each end of the school zone, speed limit at 15 mph, neon signs glowing and even Denise’s stop sign lights up. Did I mention that there is a sign that lights up with your speed on it? You would think with all of this, that Denise’s job would be a breeze and even redundant. It is not! In fact, we could use a better police presence, but unfortunately so does every school crossing.
Just the other day, some brilliant driver saw Denise stepping out to cross twin boys. The driver tried to speed up to swerve around her and came close to hitting the boys. Can you believe it?
There are unfortunately too many stories like that. Drivers on cell phones, lighting a cigarette or otherwise oblivious to the many warnings they are passing including our last line of defense — Denise.
So when you see Denise, say an extra thanks and slow down. Pay attention. Denise shows great patience but do not make her job “dangerous.”

