The National Association for Pupil Transportation announced its 13th recipient of the Special Needs Transportation (SNT) endorsement, part of the organization’s Professional Development Series of curriculum that was started in 2010.
Dona Beauchea, the corporate safety manager for FirstGroup America that owns and operates First Student in the U.S. and Canada, completed her training at the NAPT Summit last month in Cincinnati. Beauchea completed the first five courses last winter at the 2011 Transporting Students with Disabilities and Preschoolers National Conference held in Kansas City.
She was featured in a February 2009 article in School Transportation News that highlighted her experience in special needs training of First Student employees, including such topics as autism, its characteristics and student behavior management strategies. Beauchea even wrote a new manual on transporting students with autism for First Student. All told she has more than 30 years experience in the industry.
The SNT program consists of six special needs courses, including a school bus roadeo and a trade show of school transportation products and services. The core curriculum is supplemented by two courses of elective instruction from the NAPT Professional Development Series Program.
A full description of the SNT program is online.
