After 20 years on the job, beloved Roosevelt Elementary crossing guard retires

Barbara Howes’ last day as a crossing guard at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School was noisy, and the commotion was unexpected, she said. But June 17 did start out as a typical day. Holding a large sign that said “Stop,” Howes helped children accompanied by parents or caregivers cross at the corner of Main Street and Lexington Avenue in Oyster Bay, as she has for 20 years. But drivers kept honking their horns, smiling and waving as they passed Howes, who stood dumbstruck on the sidewalk.

“My daughter, who lives in Virginia, asked me what I wanted for my last day, and I said nothing,” said Howes, who lives three blocks from the school. “I wanted to just walk away. When I turned, I saw someone holding a sign that said, ‘Honk for Barbara. She is retiring.’ I realized it was my daughter.”

Maddie Dunleavy wanted to surprise her mother. She, Roosevelt Principal Tami McElwee and a few teachers gathered to give Howes flowers, gifts and cards, many of them handmade, from students at the school and those who remembered Howes from years ago.

“Barbara is incredible,” McElwee said. And she is a part of our community. The children love her.”

Howes has always loved children, and the crossing guard job appealed to her because it allowed her to be with them, she said. But it took her 5½ years to be screened, because there was a Nassau County job freeze at the time. She accepted a job as an assistant teacher at the Community Church Nursery School in Syosset in 1997. When she was hired as a crossing guard in 2001, she was still working at the nursery school, and for 10 years she did both jobs, which she said was insane.

She left the nursery school in 2011 to tend to her husband, Jack’s, mother, who was ill, and worked solely as a crossing guard.
Howes, 63, said that her age was the main reason she retired. And she wants to spend more time with her family, which includes a 2-year-old grandson, Merik, who lives in California. She said several times that she loved the children who attend Roosevelt, whom she described as “respectful,” and would miss them.

But there is another reason why she retired. Drivers, she said, are distracted, speed and don’t stop at red lights. A few years ago, a driver lost control of a car and drove into Roosevelt’s driveway, crashing into the school’s signage.

“The custodian jumped out of the way, and I was 10 feet away,” Howes recounted. “I was terrified. So many times when I was standing in the middle of the crosswalk with my stop sign, drivers went around me. I think I’m getting away safe.”

Kristen Bradley said she would miss Howes. The mother of three children, ages 12, 9 and 6, Bradley said she was happy when she saw Howes on the corner. Bradley’s children liked Howes so much that they routinely asked their mother to park near the crosswalk so Howes could help them cross. She was always smiling, Bradley said, seemed to enjoy greeting everyone and knew all of the children’s names.

“She was a nice support for me,” Bradley said. “Sometimes I’d be having a tough morning, and Barbara was so supportive. Her smile and knowing look was one mom to another, and made me feel better.”
McElwee said that Howes kept the children safe, was dependable and took her job seriously, setting a good example for the students. “It’s important for children to know the people they see every day, the bus driver, teacher and crossing guard,” McElwee said.

Many children are frightened when they start school, Howes said, and in the beginning of the school year, they wouldn’t speak to her, but by the end of the year they did. It means so much to her to be able to make a difference and put a smile on a child’s face, she said.

“I feel like I touched a lot of lives,” she said. “But they gave me more than I ever gave anyone. It’s hard for me to leave the children, but I live here. I told them, ‘I’ll see you when I’m riding my bike and at the library.’”

Even so, Bradley said, she would miss seeing Howes at Roosevelt. “She had a big trick-or-treat bowl of candy and wore a big Micky Mouse hand on Halloween,” Bradley recalled. “Barbara knows everybody. When I see her in town, I like saying hello to her.”