‘I love them’: North Carolina woman spends 90th birthday helping students stay safe

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. — A New Hanover County woman spent her 90th birthday doing what she loves — helping students cross the street safely.

Vada Keller has been working as a crossing guard at Wrightsboro Elementary School for more than 30 years, our partners at WWAY report.

Students showered her with gifts on her birthday Monday to help make celebrate her milestone and thank her for her service.

“I love them, and most of them at least like me,” Keller said.

They gave her flowers, a cake, and even a banner signed by the young students she calls her “walkers.”

She says when she’s not working, her kids notice.

“When I come back they always say, ‘where’d you go, where’d you go,’ you know they were not happy I wasn’t here,” Keller said. “It makes me happy but it makes me teary too.”

Keller says many of her former “walkers” now have children of their own.

She says she has no plans to retire any time soon.

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