Emerson Elementary safety patroller Hope Sacha, right, escorts Rowan and Rhett Krieg across 36th Street on Monday morning as a crossing guard stops traffic. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — It’s not just teachers and crossing guards making sure Emerson Elementary students get in and out of school safely.

About 20 fourth- and fifth-graders, plus a few third-graders, have been trained as part of the school’s Safety Patrol team, implemented this year by Principal Tabatha Efaw.

They escort students off and on school buses, walk them to the school building, assist kids in the drop-off loop, act as hall monitors and guide students crossing 36th Street with the help of the crossing guard.

“It’s just really impressive how we have a young group of people, they’re on time, every time, and if they can’t make it, they’re calling and letting us know,” Efaw said. “The level of discipline and the level of confidence and leadership I’ve seen them develop is impressive.”

Efaw said a school district where she worked in Virginia had a similar program and she wanted to start one at Emerson to help promote more student leadership. She showed kids a training video produced by AAA and invited those interested to apply.

Emerson Elementary fourth-grader Kaden Walker, right, is a member of the school’s Safety Patrol, providing guidance to keep students safe at the beginning and end of the school day. (Photo Provided)

“Everybody that applied, actually, we were able to find positions for,” Efaw said.

The team is led by a captain, fifth-grader Maddi Amos, who works with Efaw to direct the student safety patrollers and monitor their activities. The captain reports any issues to the principal, who can follow up with individual students.

Fifth-grader Lillian Phillips said she walks students to their buses and reminds them about walking instead of running, putting on masks and following the marked safety path.

“I have to tell them (to) stay in the yellow line,” she said.

Fifth-grader Anna Flanagan usually does bus duty but also fills in for Amos when needed.

Emerson Elementary fourth-grader Aniah Cabbil is a member of the school’s Safety Patrol, providing guidance to keep students safe at the beginning and end of the school day. (Photo Provided)

“I like to help kids, and I thought it would be fun to help every day,” she said.

The most surprising aspect of the job, Flanagan said, was when a student didn’t respond positively after she called him down for running.

“When I told him not to do that, he, like, rolled his eyes,” she said.

Efaw said that although that happens occasionally, most students are receptive to the program and she’s glad there are peers modeling good behavior.

The Safety Patrol team was established with the help of AAA safety adviser J.J. Miller. Millions of students have served in the AAA Safety Patrol program since 1920, Efaw said.

Efaw said the school is planning other leadership initiatives, including a student council headed up by Assistant Principal Adam Shaffer and peer mediation and K-Kids led by Assistant Principal Kristen Cale.