Friendship Blooms Between South Carolina Bus Driver, Kindergartner

June 19, 2023

A South Carolina school bus driver and an elementary school student formed a friendship that impacts the kindergartner’s life in a positive way.

Berkeley County School District bus driver Charles Frierson, known to the students as Mr. Charles, became a close friend with Kameron Eisenberg, a student who just finished kindergarten at Cane Bay Elementary School in Summerville, South Carolina.

A video released by the district describes how the friendship between the two helped the student improve in school. Eisenberg was having trouble behaving in class earlier this year and was commonly sent to the principal’s office. Frierson, who picks up and drops off Eisenberg in the morning and afternoons, noticed his issues and decided to help.

“It’s all about the kids, that’s what I love the most about driving a school bus,” said Frierson in the video. “He’s very special to me and I’m just hoping that it’ll always be that way.”

One of Eisenberg’s teachers Stephanie Williams said, “Kameron likes anything he can manipulate and be creative, he likes Legos, he loves school buses, he loves anything transportation wise.”

Williams would take Eisenberg to see the school bus and the child would knock on the glass door ready to spend some quality time with his favorite bus driver.

Frierson would say to Eisenberg, “Look, you, my little buddy, and we’re going to do this together and every day that you be good.”

Williams, who has been teaching for over 20 years, added that she has never seen an instance where a child’s attitude and behavior have completely changed. However, after forming the friendship with “Mr. Charles,” Kameron did a 180.

“Rewards that kids want are usually monetary things, things that you have to buy, but for Kameron his rewards have never been about those extra things that he’s going to get, it is about Mr. Charles,” she continued.

Eisenberg will work, follow directions and behave all day long in anticipation of as little as five minutes with Charles Frierson inside the school bus. “Just being the first one on the bus and talking to Mr. Charles does not seem like a lot, but to him [Kameron] it’s the world.

Frierson often asks Eisenberg’s teachers what they are working on in class, or what is Eisenberg having difficulty with that he can address with the boy. Then, simply after a conversation with Mr. Charles, Eisenberg seems eager to improve and his attitude changes inside the classroom.

The two regularly eat McDonald’s and ice cream together. Eisenberg’s mother said she feels comforted knowing her child is safe. Frierson often attends the child’s baseball games on the weekends. Both the bus driver and Kameron plan to continue their routine on the school bus once again when school returns in August.