If you’ve taken Almond Avenue on your way to or from school, you’ve likely seen crossing guard Joseph Zavala shuttling students safely across the street. Few know his name, and even fewer know him beyond his daily gig.
“I like keeping y’all safe and telling drivers to slow the heck down,” Zavala said.
But beyond the man who holds the bright red stop sign, Zavala is a student, aspiring professor, former football coach and fantasy game hobbyist.
While Los Altos High School students may only see him at the Almond-Gordon intersection twice a day — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — Zavala is also a student himself. He moved to the Bay Area from Orange County to pursue his master’s degree in history at San Jose State University (SJSU), with the goal of becoming a college professor.
“What I enjoy about history is getting to highlight all the voices that have been filtered out,” Zavala said. “I want to pass that on.”
While being a crossing guard has since become meaningful to him, he initially took it on for its convenience, as the hours worked with his night class schedule. Straight from his afternoon shift at LAHS, he hustles to San Jose to get to his own classes on time.
However, Zavala’s educational path wasn’t always clear to him. Before ultimately landing in history, Zavala studied psychology, hoping to work in special education, and even considered becoming a high school teacher.
Regardless of what he’s studying, Zavala keeps his enthusiasm up.
“In class, he’s always the first one to raise his hand,” fellow SJSU student and history teacher Sophia Roque said. “He gives the most elaborate and most thoughtful answers that no one had thought about.”
Outside of school and work, Zavala is a self-proclaimed “nerd.” He said he enjoys games like Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer, accumulating more than 200 hand-painted figurines.
“You build them, glue them all together, paint them up and then you can play a little game with them,” Zavala said.
When he’s not painting figurines or playing tabletop games, Zavala also enjoys video games such as Hades, Jak and Daxter and Baldur’s Gate. These hobbies, he said, help him better connect with high school students’ interests.
Connecting to the community he serves is nothing new for Zavala. After graduating from Newport Harbor High School, he returned to his alma mater to coach football for three years, having experience as a lineman. Zavala said his age, compared to the other coaches, helped him approach coaching with more empathy.
“As the youngest coach, it was easier for me to remember what I was like at that age,” Zavala said.
This understanding has let him pick up on the rhythms of LAHS student life since starting as a crossing guard in October — even though he said it feels like a language barrier at times. Despite that struggle, Zavala’s favorite streetside memories are getting to know students and their constantly changing lingo.
“It’s hard to keep up with the latest slang,” Zavala said. “But I do try to say ‘six-seven’ every once in a while.”
He said students are actually the easiest part of his job and attributes any challenges to speeding or impatient drivers. Today, Zavala harnesses his empathy in creating a safe environment for all students.
“I like how patient he is,” junior Emily Wu said. “He always makes me feel very comfortable walking across the street; I really appreciate him.”
Whether on the road or in everyday life, Zavala keeps his message simple:
“Be kind and empathetic,” he said. “Don’t rush.”
