As many of you are celebrating the fact that it is a new calendar year and you have set your resolutions. Us bus drivers are celebrating the fact that we are half way through our school calendar year.
This marks that we are going to have a 2 month vacation in 6 months…Yahoo! Plus, we have a bunch of national holidays in there and not to mention spring break. So, yes, this is a little different perspective for us bus drivers since we don’t have to dwell on the 12 months of “how is this year going to be different.”
For us, this year is half over, and so far so good. With that said, and with just coming back from winter break, I have had a pretty good week. I am not sure what happened to my students over the winter break. I think that Santa brought them a big bag of politeness because as my high and middle school students got off the bus at the school in the morning on Tuesday I would say half of them said, “Thank you.”
So, here I am, sitting in my seat repeating “you are welcome” about 30 times. I felt like a broken record. I guess I am going to have to come up with something a little more witty like, “No…Thank you!” Or, “Have a great day and learn something useful!” I don’t know, I guess I will have to work on that.
The one thing that I decided to do in this new 1/2 year is to start taking what we call mid-day routes. We have a big white board that posts other drivers kindergarden or pre-school routes. This is where, if the regular driver is going to be gone for whatever reason, other drivers can bid to drive it for them on that day. Many subs do this to earn extra hours and money. I to need a little more cash flow for a few months.
I went up to our dispatcher and asked her to show me how the process works since I haven’t taken a mid-day in probably four years. Many people standing around that over heard this were definitely shocked since I never take a mid-day. So, she showed me and in return I will have more interesting material to write about for this blog…so stay tuned!:)
Yesterday, I got to my first elementary stop where I pick up about 20 students. Apparently one of the students had to run back to the house because she forgot her violin. The reason I know this is because every single kid that got on the bus and said, “\ Lucy went to get her violin.” They are so helpful at this age or they think I have Alzheimer’s and need to be reminded 20 times in a two minute period.
They one thing I still don’t understand, and maybe it is because I am not a teacher or a school district administrator, is why after a two week vacation we come back on a Tuesday and Wednesday and have a one hour late start. Then, a week and a half later, we have a day off. Ok, that last one is a holiday, but still.
I look forward to all the events and stories that this new 1/2 year will bring and I will get to share them all with you.
Christe Smith is school bus driver for the Olympia School District in Olympia, Wash. She has been enjoying driving bus for the last 10 years and has experienced many events that she has decided to share with the rest STN readers. You may also view her blog at Life as a school bus driver.
