For the past three years, School Transportation News has requested nominations of student transporters who are displaying leadership or innovation in their school bus operation, but who may have not received the public or industry-wide recognition that they deserve.
This year, we received 68 nominations, which are listed below. Out of these, 10 individuals were selected by the editors for profiles in our October magazine Rising SuperStars feature.
- Francis Bagarella, Transportation Director, Oak Harbor School District, Washington
- Nate Baguio, Vice President of Sales, The Lion Electric Company, California
- Dan Bailey, Bus Supervisor & Maintenance, New London High School, Ohio
- Jay Bernick, Owner, Stahlke Bus, Minnesota
- Rayhme Bernick, Owner, Stahlke Bus, Minnesota
- Benoit Bourgault, General Manager, Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
- Theresa Busby, Asst. Supervisor of Pupil Transportation, Giles County Schools, Tennessee
- Darlene Carr-Greene, Support Services Coordinator, Arlington Public Schools, Virginia
- Robert Codie, Executive Director of Transportation Services, School District of Lee County, Florida
- Cody Cox, Director of Transportation & Fleet Services, Bellville Independent School District, Texas
- Kim Crabtree, Transportation Director, Bend-La Pine School District, Oregon
- Ozwald Cruz, Team Leader, Forney Independent School District, Texas
- Patrick Dean, VP of Business Development, Dean Transportation, Michigan
- Albert Duff, Operations-Program Manager of Transportation & Facilities, Arizona State School for the Deaf & Blind, Arizona
- Kimberly Ellis, Director of Transportation, Marietta City Schools, Georgia
- Ron Ernenwein, Owner/President, AA Transportation C., Inc., Massachusetts
- Jessica Fischer, Director of Transportation, Comal Independent School District, Texas
- Kimberly Frye, Director of Transportation Services, Orange County Public Schools, Florida
- Patrick Gallagher, Director of Business Development, SafeStop, South Carolina
- Jason Gambrell, Transportation Manager, Chula Vista Elementary School District, California
- Brooke Garcia, Managing Director, 4 Seasons Transportation, Calgary, Canada
- Victor Garza, Delegated Behind the Wheel Trainer, Newport-Mesa Unified School District, California
- Layna Georgia, Dispatcher, Edkey, Inc., Sequoia Charter School, Arizona
- Latroy Gleaton, Operations Officer, Richland County School District 1, South Carolina
- Nathan Graf, Senior Executive Director of Transportation, San Antonio Independent School District, Texas
- Ryan Hahn, Director of Transportation, North Clackamas School District, Oregon
- Kim Hamilton, Past-President, Oklahoma Association of Pupil Transportation, Oklahoma
- Kimberly Heiser, Transportation Supervisor, Worcester County Public Schools, Maryland
- Joshua Hinerman, Director of Pupil Transportation, Robertson County Schools, Tennessee
- Kathy Jacobs, Bus Trainer/Driver, DeKalb BOE, Tennessee
- Stacy Jones, Bus Driver, Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Indiana
- Scott Kincaid, VP, Midwest Bus Sales Inc., Missouri
- Justin Kobak, Lead Maintenance Mechanic, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Ohio
- Jay Kurzynski, Special Needs Bus Driver / Lead Custodian, Tomorrow River School District, Wisconsin
- Brad Lambes, School Bus Driver, Perry Local Schools, Ohio
- Nathan Lecrenski, President, Five Star Transportation, Massachusetts
- Shelly Marr, Director of Transportation, North Palos School District 117, Illinois
- Joanna McFarland, Co-Founder & CEO, HopSkipDrive, California
- Colleen Murphy-Penk, Chief of Transportation, Youngstown City School District, Ohio
- Paul Overbaugh, State Director of Pupil Transportation, NY State Education Dept., New York
- Marc-Andre Page, Business Development Director, The Lion Electric Co., Quebec, Canada
- Donna Paole, Dispatcher, Glastonbury Board of Education, Connecticut
- Eden Perez, Asst. Regional Director, New York City Dept. of Education-Office of Pupil Transportation
- Lee Phillips, Parts Clerk, Calhoun County Board of Education, Alabama
- Rolando Puertas, School Bus Driver, New Haven Unified School District, California
- Robert Reichenbach, Executive VP, Bird Bus Sales, New York
- Malinda Sandhu, Director of Sales, The Lion Electric Co., California
- Kevin Sellstrom, Transportation Coordinator, Galt Joint Union Elementary School District, California
- Chad Sexton, Director of Transportation Services, Genesee Intermediate School District, Michigan
- Timothy Shannon, Director of Transportation, Twin Rivers Unified School District, California
- DJ Shrider, Lead Vehicle Technician, Huron Valley Schools, Michigan
- GP Singh, CEO, ByteCurve, Illinois
- Donna Smith, Bus Driver, Jennings County Schools, Indiana
- Kayne Smith, Executive Director of Student Transportation Services, Dallas Independent School District, Texas
- Tommy Smith, Executive Director of Operations, Suffolk Transportation, New York
- Shawn Smith, Director of Transportation, Aurora Public Schools, Colorado
- Ryan Solchenberger, Transportation Director, Los Angeles Unified School District, California
- Jesse Stamper, Dispatch/Student Services/Medicaid Coordinator, West Shore Educational School District, Michigan
- Peggy Stone, Supervisor of Exceptional Needs, Kanawha County Schools, West Virginia
- Magdalina Sucias, Supervisor, Akita Enterprises, Ltd., Hawaii
- Leticia Valenzuela, Transportation Coordinator, Fowler Elementary, Arizona
- Nicholas Vallone, VP, VP Buses dba SuperTrans, New York
- Rosalyn Vann-Jackson, Asst. Director of Transportation, Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma
- Olga Vazquez, Transportation Specialist, Orange County Public Schools, Florida
- Tracy Wardour, Owner, Safe-Way Bus Transit, Inc., Wisconsin
- Cecelia Williams, Supervisor of Administration, Birmingham City Schools, Alabama
- Billy Wiseman, Bus Driver, Kanawha County Schools, West Virginia
- Kelly Zink, Transportation Secretary, Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C, Illinois
