- Deborah Thomas, a local crossing guard, greets everyone with a smile and a "Good morning!"
- In this video, you see how she helps parents who are concerned about the fast driving cars on school zone roads.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
On any given weekday morning at the corner of Fairview Road and Monitor Street, you'll usually see a line of cars as well as crowds of kids making their way to school.
You'll also see the person guiding both of those groups to where they need to go.
“ I love it, I love the kids,” says Deborah Thomas, a local crossing guard.
Meet Deborah Thomas, or as the kids call her, “Miss D.”
As a crossing guard for the past six years, Miss D makes sure every morning- those crossing the street at Palla Elementary in Southeast Bakersfield are greeted with a smile.
“You know she’s our first, the first person that we see you know every morning before entering school and she just, you know, brightens my kids' days,” says Arianna Miller, a parent at Palla Elementary.
“But off the bat she is the most sweetest sweetest sweetest person ever, oh, she’s got her place in heaven, she’s got her place in heaven,” says another parent, Mireida Rocha.
Deborah Thomas has lived in Bakersfield for over thirty years and worked in the clerical field before she started as a crossing guard substitute.
Now she's got her stop sign, American flag chair, and her whistle, Monday through Friday as a full time crossing guard with J and J special services.
A duty she takes seriously, and the parents appreciate, especially parents like Mirieda Rocha.
“My daughter, she’s a special needs child so she doesn’t know when to stop at the stoplight at the cross section so I’m really really happy that she’s here helping us you know every single day. And hopefully the cars,you know, acknowledge that there are pedestrians that are walking and they do slow down- because some of them are, you know, going the regular miles but some of them are racing,” says Rocha.
Miss D says that her relationship with the parents she sees everyday is a great one, for they even bring her water bottles on hot days and cook her food to show their appreciation.
“The kick about it is that they give me the credit, but I give them the credit because if anything happens to me, they’re on it,” says Thomas.
Despite still giving the parents a smile every morning, Miss D says that protecting the little ones is the best part.
“What’s your favorite part of the job?” asks Ava Kershner.
“The kids. Always always always my my babies,” says Thomas.
Miss D says that she looks forward to going to work every day, and as long as she can do the job, she’ll be here saying “Good morning.”
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