Oct. 1, 2007 – Cool, confident and collected are just three of the words that can be used to describe school crossing guard Laverne Morris.
As she stands by the Frenchtown intersection across from the Western Cemetery, children from various schools in the area stop by just to say "hi" to the approachable “Ms. Morris,” as they call her.
Morris has worked as a school crossing guard for almost six years now. For the past two years she has been stationed at the major crossing walk that leads from the Frenchtown area to the old cemetery.
After helping children get safely to school, as other crossing guards do on island, she returns to the office to file reports until the end of the school day, she says.
“It’s not easy working out here,” she says. “I am mostly dealing with the motoring public, and sometimes people come in a bad mood and they want to take it out on the road. Or they’re late and you have to be the one to stop them and they scream, 'Why did you stop me?'"
Working as a crossing guard was not something she planned, Morris says, but “the opportunity fell into my lap, and I took it.”
She is a graduate of the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. Morris attended UVI for some time as a business administration major, but left for financial reasons, she says.
Morris then moved on to a short stint at the Frenchman’s Reef hotel until she heard about an opening as a crossing guard.
She has two kids of her own, a one-year old and a 10-year-old who attends Peace Corps elementary school.
“I like working with children,” she says. “I love talking to them, asking them how they’re doing. I like that.”
But she takes her job very seriously. When asked her name, she proudly says, “School Crossing Guard Laverne Morris.”
Gov. John deJongh Jr. declared the last week in September as School Crossing Guard Week across the territory. According to the news release, vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and injury among children in the Virgin Islands. The governor is recognizing school crossing guards like Morris for “their tireless, unselfish service to this community."
Morris talked of the many things she experiences at the intersection where she crosses students, mostly from Addelita Cancryn Junior High School, Evelyn Marcelli Elementary School and Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic School, along with other pedestrians.
Earlier this year Morris had to run behind a pole to escape a tire that came off a truck passing by. “All I could see was the wheel bouncing and coming towards me,” she says, joking about the near-miss.
Other than that, she says, “Your temper does really go up when you’re crossing children and people don’t want to stop.” Many times, drivers will scream obscenities at Morris right in front of the students.
Some students from Addelita Cancryn school are no better, she says, routinely getting in fistfights.
“They fight here almost everyday,” she says.
Morris wants the public to know that being a school crossing guard is a tough job. She just wants motorists to “listen to crossing guards.”
“A lot of people don’t take it seriously,” she says. They think being a crossing guard is easy. But I guess that if they were in our shoe, they would change their mind."
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