Tina Olstead, the field trip coordinator for Queen Creek Unified School District near Phoenix, won a scholarship from Transfinder earlier this month to attend the North American School Bus EXPO Conference and Trade Show presented by School Transportation News July 26-30 in Reno, Nev.
Olstead received the scholarship on May 8 during Transfinder’s annual client conference in Albany, N.Y. She has worked at Queen Creek since 2007, starting out as a part-time school bus driver and then working her way up to a full-time position, said Ed Henerly, the district’s director of transportation. Olstead was promoted to her current position earlier this year retired.
“Tina had a great time at the Transfinder conference and now has a much better understanding of what this program can do for her in scheduling the over 1,000 field trips we do annually,” Henerly added.
Queen Creek’s school year starts July 23, so while the rest of Queen Creek’s transportation staff would be unable to attend the STN EXPO, Henerly said Olstead would carry the district’s flag in their absence.
“I am sure Tina will be like a sponge soaking up as much information as she can at this event,” he added. “Tina has a long, bright future ahead of her in my department, and this conference will add to the dimensions of her knowledge.”
