A Day Out With a CAA School Safety Patroller
We visited Brant Avenue Public School to learn how the CAA School Safety Patrol® (SSP) program works and why patrollers love their role in keeping their community safe.
By Anne Marshall | Original photography by Ben Bonsu
September is a busy time in Ontario’s schools — and on Ontario’s roads. For students, parents and other pedestrians passing through school zones, it can be a challenge to safely navigate their way around school buses, student drop-offs, no-stopping zones and the streets around schools. That’s the reason the CAA School Safety Patrol® (SSP) program was founded in 1929.
If you’re in a school zone in Ontario where the SSP program is implemented, you might recognize CAA School Safety Patrollers in their bright green vests, monitoring crosswalks, driveways and drop-off/pick-up locations, as well as riding on school buses to ensure students travel to and from school safely. The training and skills, alongside the responsibility and the sense of pride attached to wearing that vest, are best explained by the patrollers themselves. And so, CAA Magazine went straight to the source and spent a day with the patrollers and organizers at a South Central Ontario school.
CAA School Safety Patrollers Izabella (background) and Georgia wear their bright green patroller vests as they prepare to start duty.
The patrollers make sure that students both arrive at and leave the school safely, whether they’re walking, cycling or taking the bus.
Brant Avenue Public School in Guelph has been participating in the SSP program for over a decade, and its patrollers have truly embraced the role of keeping their school community safe and the responsibility that comes with it. At Brant, the SSP program includes both Foot Patrollers who monitor the school zone, and Bus Patrollers who ensure safe loading and unloading of students on school buses. The patrollers make sure that students both arrive at and leave the school safely, whether they’re walking, cycling or taking the bus. According to Grade 6 Foot Patroller Georgia, now in her second year with her school’s SSP program, being a patroller has helped her become more aware of her surroundings. That’s important, she notes, because her actions as a patroller help keep members of her community safe. In order to be an effective patroller, Georgia and the other members of the SSP program at Brant are taught several standard procedures and movements to help increase safety for people as they move through patrolled zones, including crosswalks near the school. One such procedure, called the proper duty position, is described by Georgia as a physical stance that enables the patroller to control the flow of foot traffic into a crosswalk, which is effectively like opening and closing a gate. “We stand with our legs a little bit more than hip-width apart and our arms at [an angle of] 45 degrees. [That’s] to make sure that if any kids try to cross when it’s unsafe, they can’t.” This stance allows patrollers to create a barrier that prevents pedestrians from entering the roadway until it is safe to do so. When it is safe to cross, the patrollers step back with one foot and turn sideways, extending their opposite arm as if they are opening the gate. At the same time, the patrollers start motioning pedestrians safely through the crosswalk with their other hand. When it’s time to resume the original position, they do the same motion in reverse, bringing their back foot forward while turning to face the opposite side as if they are closing the gate. Then they raise their arms back out at a 45-degree angle, stopping the flow of people into the crosswalk. With its wide stance and arm motions taking up visual space, the proper duty position serves as an effective manoeuvre that catches the attention of pedestrians and drivers.
Proper Duty Position
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Legs more than hip-width apart and arms out at 45 degrees, stopping students from crossing.
“Opening the Gate”
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Standing sideways, right arm extended, hand pivoted to face students, left arm motioning students to begin crossing.
Officer Mason Melitzer (or Officer Mason, as he’s known at the school) of the Guelph Police Service serves as Brant Avenue’s community resource officer with oversight of the SSP program. “The presence of patrollers helps promote safety at schools and in school zones,” says Officer Mason, “because [the patroller is] a visible person who everyone can see and recognize due to the [program] having been around for so long.”
Georgia, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps by joining the SSP program, says that being a patroller gives her a sense of pride and responsibility. “When there’s a new patroller, we like to remind them that it’s not scary. For the most part, it’s really fun and easy.”
Her SSP colleague, Bus Patroller Dylan, who is also in Grade 6 at Brant, agrees. “I joined the program because of my friends. They said it was really fun and you learn a lot. And I like [younger] kids. They’re super fun sometimes.” Dylan is one of three Bus Patrollers (they’re stationed on the bus at the front, middle and back) who are responsible for helping students to get on and off the bus when they’re on school property.
It’s also very important for patrollers to watch closely and keep track of when and how people are moving — skills that Dylan has honed to fulfill her role in keeping her peers safe. “You don’t ever really know what’s coming,” she points out, “so you have to be prepared.”
In addition to ensuring that kids stay seated — the rule Dylan notes she spends the most time enforcing — Bus Patrollers must learn how to operate emergency exits and direct evacuations through the front and back of the bus. “But that’s only for emergencies,” she says. And Bus Patrollers undergo additional training to prepare them to confidently take control in case of an emergency. While she has yet to put evacuation training into actual practice, she did have to communicate with a bus driver when a student had a medical emergency.
“One time, we had a close call when someone started seizing and we had to tell the bus driver,” Dylan recalls. Handing her the radio, the driver instructed her to answer any questions from the emergency operator while the driver administered first aid to the student in distress. “[The 911 responders] came and opened the back door of the bus, then told everybody to move to the side at the very back, as they helped [the student] off the bus.” Dylan credits her SSP training with seeing her through the incident. “It helped me stay calm and know what to do.”
One of the people responsible for that training is Officer Mason. Once a patroller himself, he believes that’s a big part of why he is a community resource officer today. “Instilling those values of leadership and community [at a young age] is so important,” he explains. “The SSP program promotes and rewards kids for doing a great job.”
According to Officer Mason, the time spent collaborating with teachers to train SSP patrollers pays off handsomely when he drives through a school zone at the beginning or at the end of the day. “You see [patrollers] out there performing their duties and taking it seriously. Their attention to detail is great.”
“The SSP program promotes and rewards kids for doing a great job.”
Officer Mason working with Georgia and Izabella to teach the proper duty position.
Dylan and Georgia get ready for their patrol shifts; CAA School Safety Patrollers in the proper duty position preventing students from crossing while cars drive through the crosswalk; Georgia “opens the gate” to allow students to cross safely; Izabella “opens the gate” to signal to students that they are allowed to cross.
“I know parents are grateful that they can feel safe with their kids crossing the street, knowing that someone is making sure they’re getting to the other side safely.”
A teacher at Brant Avenue Public School, Jennifer King supervises the SSP program.
But no one could be prouder of Brant Avenue Public School’s Foot and Bus Patrollers than Jennifer King, a teacher at the school and an SSP Supervisor herself. King’s eyes actually well up as she talks about the skills and confidence her patrollers have developed as they embrace the responsibilities of their roles.
“When I see the students working together in the program, I feel a tremendous sense of pride,” says King. “[SSP] is a community program and is really at the heart of bringing our kids to school safely, which is so important to me as a teacher.”
And it’s not just school staff who recognize the importance of the CAA School Safety Patrol program. The local community appreciates it too and all of its benefits. Officer Mason adds, “I know parents are grateful that they can feel safe with their kids crossing the street, knowing that someone is making sure they’re getting to the other side safely.” CAA
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Proper Duty Position
Legs more than hip-width apart and arms out at 45 degrees, stopping students from crossing.
“Opening the Gate”
Standing sideways, right arm extended, hand pivoted to face students, left arm motioning students to begin crossing.
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Officer Mason Melitzer (or Officer Mason, as he’s known at the school) of the Guelph Police Service serves as Brant Avenue’s community resource officer with oversight of the SSP program. “The presence of patrollers helps promote safety at schools and in school zones,” says Officer Mason, “because [the patroller is] a visible person who everyone can see and recognize due to the [program] having been around for so long.”
Georgia, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps by joining the SSP program, says that being a patroller gives her a sense of pride and responsibility. “When there’s a new patroller, we like to remind them that it’s not scary. For the most part, it’s really fun and easy.”
Her SSP colleague, Bus Patroller Dylan, who is also in Grade 6 at Brant, agrees. “I joined the program because of my friends. They said it was really fun and you learn a lot. And I like [younger] kids. They’re super fun sometimes.” Dylan is one of three Bus Patrollers (they’re stationed on the bus at the front, middle and back) who are responsible for helping students to get on and off the bus when they’re on school property.
It’s also very important for patrollers to watch closely and keep track of when and how people are moving — skills that Dylan has honed to fulfill her role in keeping her peers safe. “You don’t ever really know what’s coming,” she points out, “so you have to be prepared.”
“The SSP program promotes and rewards kids for doing a great job.”
Officer Mason working with Georgia and Izabella to teach the proper duty position.
In addition to ensuring that kids stay seated — the rule Dylan notes she spends the most time enforcing — Bus Patrollers must learn how to operate emergency exits and direct evacuations through the front and back of the bus. “But that’s only for emergencies,” she says. And Bus Patrollers undergo additional training to prepare them to confidently take control in case of an emergency. While she has yet to put evacuation training into actual practice, she did have to communicate with a bus driver when a student had a medical emergency.
“One time, we had a close call when someone started seizing and we had to tell the bus driver,” Dylan recalls. Handing her the radio, the driver instructed her to answer any questions from the emergency operator while the driver administered first aid to the student in distress. “[The 911 responders] came and opened the back door of the bus, then told everybody to move to the side at the very back, as they helped [the student] off the bus.” Dylan credits her SSP training with seeing her through the incident. “It helped me stay calm and know what to do.”
One of the people responsible for that training is Officer Mason. Once a patroller himself, he believes that’s a big part of why he is a community resource officer today. “Instilling those values of leadership and community [at a young age] is so important,” he explains. “The SSP program promotes and rewards kids for doing a great job.”
According to Officer Mason, the time spent collaborating with teachers to train SSP patrollers pays off handsomely when he drives through a school zone at the beginning or at the end of the day. “You see [patrollers] out there performing their duties and taking it seriously. Their attention to detail is great.”
Officer Mason Melitzer (or Officer Mason, as he’s known at the school) of the Guelph Police Service serves as Brant Avenue’s community resource officer with oversight of the SSP program. “The presence of patrollers helps promote safety at schools and in school zones,” says Officer Mason, “because [the patroller is] a visible person who everyone can see and recognize due to the [program] having been around for so long.”
Georgia, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps by joining the SSP program, says that being a patroller gives her a sense of pride and responsibility. “When there’s a new patroller, we like to remind them that it’s not scary. For the most part, it’s really fun and easy.”
Her SSP colleague, Bus Patroller Dylan, who is also in Grade 6 at Brant, agrees. “I joined the program because of my friends. They said it was really fun and you learn a lot. And I like [younger] kids. They’re super fun sometimes.” Dylan is one of three Bus Patrollers (they’re stationed on the bus at the front, middle and back) who are responsible for helping students to get on and off the bus when they’re on school property.
It’s also very important for patrollers to watch closely and keep track of when and how people are moving — skills that Dylan has honed to fulfill her role in keeping her peers safe. “You don’t ever really know what’s coming,” she points out, “so you have to be prepared.”
“The SSP program promotes and rewards kids for doing a great job.”
Officer Mason working with Georgia and Izabella to teach the proper duty position.
September is a busy time in Ontario’s schools — and on Ontario’s roads. For students, parents and other pedestrians passing through school zones, it can be a challenge to safely navigate their way around school buses, student drop-offs, no-stopping zones and the streets around schools. That’s the reason the CAA School Safety Patrol® (SSP) program was founded in 1929.
If you’re in a school zone in Ontario where the SSP program is implemented, you might recognize CAA School Safety Patrollers in their bright green vests, monitoring crosswalks, driveways and drop-off/pick-up locations, as well as riding on school buses to ensure students travel to and from school safely. The training and skills, alongside the responsibility and the sense of pride attached to wearing that vest, are best explained by the patrollers themselves. And so, CAA Magazine went straight to the source and spent a day with the patrollers and organizers at a South Central Ontario school.
A Day Out With a CAA School Safety Patroller
We visited Brant Avenue Public School to learn how the CAA School Safety Patrol® (SSP) program works and why patrollers love their role in keeping their community safe.
By Anne Marshall | Original photography by Ben Bonsu
CAA School Safety Patrollers Izabella (above) and Georgia (below) wear their bright green patroller vests as they prepare to start duty.
CAA School Safety Patroller Georgia (above and below) wears her bright green patroller vest as she prepares to start duty.
A Day Out With a CAA School Safety Patroller
We visited Brant Avenue Public School to learn how the CAA School Safety Patrol® (SSP) program works and why patrollers love their role in keeping their community safe.
By Anne Marshall | Original photography by Ben Bonsu