Grand Forks student selected as North Dakota AAA School Safety Patroller of the Year

GRAND FORKS – Hayden Dvorak is dedicated to doing her finest job as a faculty security patroller at Viking Elementary Faculty — and placing that dedication into phrases has led to her choice because the 2021-22 North Dakota AAA Faculty Security Patroller of the Yr.

The Patroller of the Yr award acknowledges security patrollers who finest exemplify management qualities and carry out their duties successfully and responsibly with out incident.

Nominees for the award submit an essay expressing their emotions relating to their patrol expertise. Essays are judged on content material, understanding of visitors security, sincerity and group of concepts.

In her essay, Hayden, 11, wrote about serving as a scholar chief, studying new abilities, and displaying management. An excellent college security patroller displays necessary qualities comparable to “being respectful and being accountable,” she stated.

Hayden utilized for the Patroller of the Yr award as a result of “I actually like serving to folks and I wished to make our college a safer place,” she stated. Amongst her duties as patroller is “to dam the highway so youngsters don’t run out on the highway and get harm.”

Hayden, a fifth-grader at Viking, is the daughter of Nicole and Tim Dvorak.

Viking college is located on the intersection of Oak Road and twenty second Avenue South. The issue of dashing autos is “not a lot on this space, but it surely’s good to have (patrollers) there, simply in case,” she stated.

Through the years since beginning college as a kindergartner at Viking, Hayden has turn out to be a task mannequin for different college students, stated Kiya Knable, college counselor and scholar chief adviser.

“Hayden is an instance of what a pacesetter ought to be,” Knable stated in a information launch. “She is devoted to serving to others, a inventive thinker, and an general mannequin scholar.”

Principal Jolyn Bergstrom stated, “I’ve identified Hayden since she began kindergarten, and she or he has at all times been a really caring and sort scholar. She works arduous and participates in lots of actions all through the varsity 12 months.”

“She’s grown a lot in her confidence over time,” Bergstrom stated. “She has come into her personal over time. At first, she was a bit not sure. She’s simply grown in management abilities yearly.”

Viking, with an enrollment of about 350, is a spot the place “everyone is aware of everyone,” Bergstrom stated. “And everyone is aware of her.”

That is the third consecutive 12 months {that a} Viking scholar has been chosen for this honor, Bergstrom stated. Brody Schneider was chosen in 2020; Jaylee Weisser was honored final 12 months.

Bergstrom credit Kiya Knable, scholar chief adviser, for this achievement, saying, “She has actually pushed for them to work on their essays.”

In her essay, Hayden, who has served as certainly one of 9 college patrollers at Viking for the reason that begin of the 2021-22 college 12 months, wrote, “In security patrol, there’s a rotating captain each week and so they get to inform everybody the place to go. The captain normally goes to the bus cease and makes certain all the children get on the bus safely.

“I believe it is a vital job as a result of we make the streets safer. We additionally get to inform folks to make use of the crosswalk so that they don’t get harm.”

Hayden “is an excellent author, and an all-around wonderful child,” stated Kay Brown, library media specialist, who labored along with her within the college’s Library Membership. “She’s an superior child. We love Hayden — we’d like to clone her and have a complete college of Haydens.”

Because the state’s AAA Faculty Security Patroller of the Yr, Hayden will obtain a plaque and $200 present card, and Viking college will obtain a $100 credit score to enhance the varsity’s security patrol gear.

The AAA Faculty Security Patrol Program started in 1920 and consists of greater than 679,000 patrollers in 35,000 U.S. faculties. AAA launched the Patroller of the Yr awards in 2002.