April 29, 2000
'Otto' a hit at awards night
By Carol Bogart
Staff Writer
Student crossing guards from six Tiffin elementary schools were given awards Friday night at St. Mary's School. The event, the fourth sponsored by the Tiffin Lions, was organized by AAA.
The Auto Association's Maureen Wise introduced AAA's year-old mascot "Otto the Auto." Nearly 200 fourth and fifth graders and their families reacted with delight when the Columbus-housed robot entered the cafeteria.
Deborah Troyan, AAA's statewide manager of traffic safety, explains the agency uses Otto to talk to kids, "about traffic safety, seat belts, safety patrol. He goes out to schools. He goes to fairs. (Kids) love him. They kiss him. They come up and talk to him. They can tell secrets to him in that little microphone (in his hood). It's really sensitive.
"They'll come up and they'll 'Pss-pss-pss-pss-pss' and I can hear them."
The robot, Troyan says, is effective because Otto "talks back" and answers kids' questions. Troyan wears a headset and microphone. When she hears a child's "secret question" &emdash; she responds but makes it appear Otto is doing the talking.
Those attending the awards presentation represented Noble, Washington, Lincoln, Kraut, St. Joe's and St. Mary's elementaries. Wise told the group any child who has ever been a crossing guard will be eligible for a $1,000 AAA college scholarship when he or she graduates from high school.
Liesl Barth, 10, has been a crossing guard at Noble for one year. Her favorite part, she says, "is crossing the kids." Her twin sister, Marta, agrees, saying, "I just like it. It's fun." Their classmates Sheila Marie Luzader and Shaun Matthews say becoming crossing guards appealed to them because they saw their friends doing it.
Luzader describes the process, "You have to fill out a form and your mom has to sign it. I saw a lot of other people doing it so I thought I might want to do it."
And has she enjoyed it?
"Oh, yeah. I like a lot of things about it. Like crossing people and stuff. And talking to my friends."
Matthews says there's one important thing would-be crossing guards have to remember when they help classmates cross an intersection. He says it's to "be friends with them and not boss them around."
According to Troyan, there are 47 counties covered by AAA in Ohio with more than 10,000 students who are patrols. More than 400 schools are patrol members. She says, "The whole safety patrol program started in 1920. It's more than 80 years old.
Wise says, "AAA supplies (adult) crossing guards free of charge and have for several years." She says the agency gives grants directly to the schools.
Lou Fanning, a crossing guard and Lions Club member, is almost 72. He mans the corner at Wentz and Elmer at Washington school.
Fanning says, "The kids. That's the best part. I love'em all. They're good, they mind. Sometimes they get out of hand and I just say, 'Hey, this is the way we do it. We do it my way,' and they do it. They're good kids.
"I speak to every kid that comes to school in the morning that crosses my crossing. I have something to say to them. They call me by my first name. I have my little sign and I tap them on the head and I say, 'There, you're blessed.'"
Fanning looks pleased as he adds, "I let 'em carry my sign and sometimes they tap me on the head."
Anyone who thinks he or she might enjoy being an adult crossing guard can find out more by contacting the school in which they're interested.