Lodi's Yadina Pena honored for efforts to ensure student safety

Apr. 20—Three years ago, Yadina Pena decided she had enough of vehicles speeding through Heritage District streets, endangering the life of her children and their friends.

The Lodi Unified School District had one crossing guard near the school, stationed at Garfield and Eden streets.

When Pena asked the district to place a guard at the intersection of East Tokay and South Garfield streets, she was told there was not enough funding.

So, she made her own hand-held "stop" sign, donned a dinosaur costume, and took on the role of a crossing guard to get motorists to pay attention and slow down.

For her efforts to ensure the safety of Heritage students, Pena was honored by the Lodi Police Department at its annual awards ceremony Thursday afternoon with the Citizen Service Award.

"This really means a lot," Pena said. "You know, coming from the Eastside, we started from the bottom and now we're here. I want to continue this so that we all bring awareness to know that our kids are our future. I think if we continue to show kindness, it might spread. I will continue this path."

It was August of 2021 when Pena was watching her two children cross the street that she saw another child about 7 years old crossing alone, Lodi Police Chief Rick Garcia said.

Pena saw a large truck heading eastbound on Tokay Street at the Garfield Street intersection, and noticed that the driver was intentionally looking to ensure no children were on the road.

Pena knew the intersection was dangerous because there was no designated crossing guard, Garcia said, and purchased an inflatable dinosaur costume to help children cross the street at that intersection.

Since that time, Garcia said Pena has garnered a lot of attention from locals, and they have donated additional inflatable costumes for her to use.

She also helped Heritage School fund a crossing guard for the Tokay and Garfield intersection, and has since moved on to Lodi Middle School.

There, she assists as a crossing guard at the intersection of Ham and Vine streets, another junction she feels is hazardous to students.

"She knows that many working parents rely on their children making their own way to school, and she believes that giving just 10 minutes of her own time to assist them in safely crossing the street is a way to give back to her community," Garcia said. "Yadina hopes to continue assisting the youth in our city by garnering motorists' attention and teaching children the importance of street safety."