LA CRESCENT, Minnesota (WXOW) – Fifth graders at Crucifixion Elementary School got a valuable lesson from their sixth grade peers Wednesday.
The latter, who served as crossing guards during the 2011/2012 school year, taught the former their trade.
"The flag is actually really heavy," said Malakai Jandt, one of several fifth graders soaking in the schoolyard lesson.
Jandt added being a crossing guard brings big responsibility with it.
"This is a really big job. You think it's not that much because it's just something you do at school," he said. "But it is. You can save lives. You can protect them."
Sixth grader Romy Whitford said being a crossing guard also brings with it some nice perks.
"You don't have to line up with everybody else at the start and end of school days," he said. "You can stay outside longer."
Four crossing guards, two at two separate intersections, are stationed outside Crucifixion each school day.
Both fifth and sixth graders act as crossing guards throughout the year, and are assigned a weekly rotation on a pre-set schedule.
"If they need to leave for sports or for a dentist appointment, it's their responsibility to get a substitute for them that morning or that evening," said social studies teacher Pat Schulze. "So no place is left without two patrols."
"I think that knowing to be on time, learning how to be counted on, this is a good way for them to start," Schulze added. "You have that dependability that you're going to need in every walk of life in the future."
