Tulsa school crossing guard keeps the job fun

Tulsa school crossing guards keep our children safe crossing busy streets on the way to and from school. It could be boring duty on corners where there are not a lot of kids, but <br/>News on 6 reporter

Wednesday, June 8th 2005, 10:08 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa school crossing guards keep our children safe crossing busy streets on the way to and from school. It could be boring duty on corners where there are not a lot of kids, but
News on 6 reporter Rick Wells found a guard at 61st and Peoria who makes it fun for himself and everyone else too.

George Cozine is one of 81 regular school crossing guards who works for the City of Tulsa. "I wave at everybody. Everybody gets a hello or good morning." And apparently the drivers like it.

The News on 6 got a couple of calls and e-mails and Ron Taylor who supervises this program for the city gets them too. "I've had a lot of calls on George and I get a few cards, its kind of neat."

One motorist even gave George a thank you note. People look forward to seeing him in the morning.

Here comes one of the regulars. George: "How you doing this morning?" She wants to know what's happened to his voice. George: "I lost my voice last night somewhere." Here comes a couple of girls heading for school, they're glad he's here. "It's very good cause we can get across the street safely." Not a lot of kids Wednesday morning. That might get boring, but not for George. "You can make it boring or you can make it not boring. I chose ot get up and wave, so it's not boring for me."

One lady would wave if she weren't putting on eye makeup, he has another regular who's always brushing her teeth. "Hey guys, good morning guys. Have a great day at school. When little kids like that wave back at you, that makes it great." Yeah, I bet it does.

The city employs 81 regular crossing guards, plus about 20 alternates. They get paid $6.77 an hour for about three hours work each school day.