Crossing Guard of the Year - Donna Hoffman

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Tomorrow is Florida Crossing Guard Appreciation Day. School Crossing Guards are usually only on the job two hours a day.

Donna Hoffman started off as a stay-at-home mom. She got involved with the PTA at her child's school, then became a Crossing Guard.

It may seem like a simple job, getting kids from one side of the street to the other. But it's more than that. She told First Coast News, "There's a lot of dos and don'ts. The biggest don't is don't motion the children into the road. And to only verbally call the children into the road."

Parents trust Hoffman to help get their kids to school safely. She's pretty good at it. She's been a Crossing Guard for 13 years. "The kids are a lot fun. The kids are hilarious, the stories that happen. It's always something interesting every day. You see something strange every day."

She remembers when a little boy riding his bike to school went into a pond. Hoffman said all he said was his bread that he made for his teacher was getting wet. She got out of the water and called his mom.

Hoffman passes her knowledge about the roadway on to kids as well as other guards. "You have to stay very aware of cars or vehicles that are not paying attention and still moving toward you and that's when you want to make sure you go towards them and make sure they stop."

The children are her top priority. All this makes her the Florida Trainer of the Year.

"I tell my guards you're going to go to the classroom and learn the law, but I'm going to teach you survival skills."

Hoffman knows the rules on the road and even for those kids who run a little late. She will let them know they will get a tardy slip. She is like a mother to them, if only for 45 seconds. "You're also weather man. (I tell them) remember tomorrow it's cold or remember tomorrow it's raining. Don't come out in the rain without a jacket."

The few seconds she has with them every day means a lot. "I love the kids. The kids are a lot of fun. You'll be out on the road, you're paying attention to the cars and then all of a sudden you feel these little arms wrap around you and you go oh, hey, let's get out of the street."

Hoffman has double duty every day. She works 4 hours a day at two schools. She trains guards on the streets for 6 hours.

There is always a need for Crossing Guards. You can apply at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO). There are 286 guards right now. The JSO still needs six. For two hours a day, Crossing Guards make $9.89 an hour.

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