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HAWAII AT WORK
Guardian Angel
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Who: Mieko Tatashy
Title: School crossing guard and adult supervisor Job: Directs vehicle traffic near Royal School to protect students as they cross the street, and supervises the students at recess and lunch time
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Question: How long have you been a school crossing guard?
Answer: I think five years or more.
Q: Has it always been at Royal School?
A: Yeah.
Q: Who is actually your employer -- HPD (the Honolulu Police Department) or the DOE (state Department of Education)?
A: HPD.
Q: So you're not a volunteer?
A: No.
Crossing guard Mieko Tatashy helps children from Royal School cross the intersection of Punchbowl Street and Vineyard Boulevard.
A: Not only me. Plenty people go on the training. They train us about how we stand there and take care of the kids, and stop the car, and what else we going to do to help the kids with crossing.
Q: How did you get this job?
A: My principal before, she gives it to me. Before I was volunteering at this school, and they need a crossing guard over here, and the principal ask me if I like the job, and I said, yes, I like it, and she hired me.
Q: Who was that?
A: Mrs. (Sandra) Shibata. (The current principal is Ann Sugibayashi.)
Q: What did you do as a volunteer?
A: Take care of the kids, supervise them, recess time and lunch time.
Q: Do you enjoy watching out for the children?
A: Yeah, I like it.
Q: What do you like the most about your job?
A: I like watch the kids most.
Q: You go out in the mornings and the afternoons to guard the children in traffic. Which time of the day do you like better?
A: Both of them. (Laughter) Morning time really busy, with plenty cars turning.
Q: The intersection you work at has a traffic light, so why do they need a crossing guard?
A: Because plenty cars turn that way. That's why they need me, to cross the kids, to stop the car. Especially morning time 'cause plenty cars turn that side. That's why they need me.
There is a traffic light at the intersection, but Tatashy's presence helps ensure that the children will be safe.
A: No.
Q: What else do you do at Royal School?
A: I'm an adult supervisor. I take care of the kids at recess time and lunch time.
Q: You're from Micronesia, but your first name, Mieko, that sounds like a Japanese name.
A: That's 'cause my grandpa is Japanese.
Q: Did he live on Chuuk?
A:Yeah, but he passed away.
Q: Why did you move to Hawaii?
A: Because I want my kids to learn, to get an education.
Q: They don't have schools in Chuuk?
A: They do, but it's not like over here.