Crossing guards wanted in Carstairs

The Carstairs crossing guard program is looking for adult volunteers to help keep students safe, says program coordinator Shannon McDowell.

The guards work at two crossings near Hugh Sutherland School: one in front of the school at Highway 581 and the other west of Highway 2A at the intersection of 10^th Avenue and Gough Road.

The guards are at the crossing every school day during the school year, once from 7:50 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and again from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Ideally there would be two crossing guards at each crossing.

The program operates under the auspices of the Town of Carstairs protective services department.

McDowell says being a guard is both rewarding and vitally important to the safety of the students.

“We are trying to keep the town’s kids safe and the more people that can help us out with that the better,” said McDowell. “It is about giving back to the community and keeping kids safe.

“There is a lot of traffic in our community. The town is growing and with that comes more traffic and more kids. There are a lot of children who come through there.

“You get to know the kids and they get to know you. We have such polite kids in our town. We get thank yous every day from the kids.”

Asked how many volunteers the program is looking for, she said, “We will take as many as we can get. We really need substitutes right now to fill in when our full-time crossing guards aren’t able to be there.

“There are times when our full-time people can’t be there, so that’s when we would call in a backup person.”

Potential crossing guards need to pass a police check and a vulnerable sector check, she explained.

Anyone interested in becoming a guard can call McDowell at 403-478-1944.