Rainier View student makes hall of fame

McKenzie Goff had no idea there is a Washington School Safety Patrol Hall of Fame until she became a member.

The 11-year-old Federal Way girl was inducted into the Hall last Friday for her work as a Rainier View Elementary School crossing guard. It’s a well-deserved honor, said vice principal Greg Brown, the school’s safety patrol advisor.

“McKenzie’s respectful, responsive and cooperative,” he said. “She’s the capcaptain of our patrol, so she has to find substitutes when someone can’t do their shift. She takes her role very seriously. She’s very mature, very with it.”

Goff, also praised for organizing a safety patrol skit at her school and teaching other patrol members how to lower and fold the U.S. and state flags, modestly noted she became a crossing guard “to help the community.”

In her answers to essay questions that were part of the Hall of Fame nomination and selection process, she wrote that “a safety patroller should be someone you can depend on to keep others safe” and to “set an example.”

Goff is one of 10 new inductees of the Hall, which was created in 1991 by AAA Washington, the travel assistance company, to recognize patrol members who exemplify leadership, responsibility, initiative and reliability.

The cream of this year’s crossing guard crop were AAA’s guests at a banquet and a Seattle SuperSonics basketball game last Friday.

For Goff, an avid basketball player who also dances, the Sonics outing at Key Arena –– her first –– and the on-court introductions of the new Hallmates was especially exciting.

The thrill was mutual, said Janet Ray, a AAA Washington spokeswoman.

“It’s a real nice thing for us to recognize kids for doing good things,” she said.

Other inductees were from Lynnwood, Spanaway, Kirkland, Vancouver, Lakewood, Stanwood, Sumner and Renton.

Brown, who accompanied Goff to the banquet and game, predicted this is start of a lifetime of accomplishments for the sixth-grader.

“She’s the type of kid you’ll hear more about. She’s going to do a lot,” he said.

Editor Pat Jenkins can be reached at 925-5565 and editor@fedwaymirror.com

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