After 38 years, Jenny Toppel still makes sure students and their parents make it across Dundee Avenue safely following a day of classes at Coleman Elementary School in Elgin. March 23, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
Crossing guard Tammy Pasholk stops traffic so a Coleman Elementary School student can cross W. Chicago Street in Elgin March 22, 2012. March 22, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
Students and their parents cross the busy walkway on Dundee Avenue from Coleman Elementary School in Elgin March 23, 2012. March 23, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
Crossing guard Tammy Pasholk stops traffic at Wilcox Avenue for students at Washington Elementary School in Elgin March 22, 2012. March 22, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
Crossing guard Jenny Toppel yells for student to start crossing at Dundee Avenue in front of Coleman Elementary School in Elgin. March 23, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
Crossing guard Jenny Toppel keeps students on the sidewalk during a spring rain as she prepares to stop traffic at Dundee Avenue in Elgin March 23, 2012. March 23, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
Crossing guard Tammy Pasholk stops traffic at the intersection of Wilcox and W. Chicago Street in Elgin March 22, 2012, so students can cross safely after a day of classes at Washington Elementary School. Pasholk has been a guard for 23 years and is one of a handful of guards still working as others have been let go to save money. (COVER) March 22, 2012 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
ELGIN — For 40 years, they’ve been a common sight around the grade schools in Elgin School District U46. For an hour or so in the morning and another hour or so in the afternoon, impossible to miss in their green safety vests, city-paid crossing …
