Safety pays
Catholic Safety Patrol students earn Tigers tickets for helping
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published March 30, 2007

St. Clair Shores — You're safe!

Sure it's a phrase from baseball, but it's also a message to young students from Catholic schools in the Detroit area as they're being dropped off at or picked up from school each day.

As another season of Detroit Tiger baseball dawns April 2, thousands of grade school students on their school's Safety Patrol teams — those who volunteer to help keep young students clear of traffic at intersections and in school parking lots — will be treated to an early-season Tiger game as a reward for their service.

This year, about 2,400 Catholic school students will go to an April 18 game against the Kansas City Royals in return for their months of keeping their younger classmates safe.

"My favorite (reward for being on Safety Patrol) would be the Tiger's game," said Zach Riley, a sixth-grader at St. Joan of Arc School, which also rewards patrolling students with hot chocolate on cold days and quarterly pizza parties. "I'm a huge baseball fan."

For about a half-century, the Detroit Tiger's organization has donated game tickets to students to reward them and to build interest in the team. After an unexpected and enthralling appearance by the Tigers in last year's World Series, the annual baseball game is especially exciting this year for some students.

"For some students, that's why they become a safety patrol student," said Vic Michaels, director of the Catholic High School League, through which the Detroit Tigers donate between 2,000 and 3,000 tickets each year. "There's not a lot of benefit to doing that. It's just a service they perform each year."

Many students get up early and stay at school late to be on Safety Patrol.

"We just help people so they can cross the street, so they don't get hit by cars," said Matt Kler, a sixth-grader at St. Joan of Arc who arrives at school with his bright green Safety Patrol belt by 7:45 a.m. each morning. "We make it a little bit easier crossing the street."

St. Joan of Arc principal Donald Ancypa, who each year takes his sixth-grade volunteers to the game, recalls being a Safety Patrol student himself as a youngster.

"It's a break from school," Ancypa said. "Kids always love to have an outing — and Comerica Park, or Tiger Stadium before that, has always been a special place to go."

Jordan Field, manager of public affairs for the Detroit Tigers and manager of the Detroit Tigers Foundation, which donates 50,000 tickets each year to various worthy groups, says it's not uncommon to speak with principals and teachers who attended the Safety Patrol games as kids.

"Safety Patrol Day is one of the oldest running community programs that we maintain," Field said. "It sort of boils down to tradition. It's such a fun tradition of rewarding these students for their service."

Of course, not every student has her arm twisted only by the prospect of going to a Tiger's game.

"I get to see my friend every day," said Angel Vanderheyden, another sixth-grader at St. Joan of Arc, of why she enjoys Safety Patrol. "And it's good to know that you're helping the school, because you're keeping everyone safe."

Her friend, Lizzy Schaller, says the rewards are fun, as is ushering young students from their parent's cars into the school.

"It's good to know that we're keeping all these little kids safe," Lizzy said.

Their classmate Tim Krafchak adds that being responsible for keeping kids out of harm's way "makes me feel older."

And for the youths who shake out of bed early and stay after school to watch the crosswalks and parking lots each day, the Detroit Tigers are a welcome sight.

"I like watching my favorite players," Tim said.