While the national Love the Bus month celebrates school bus drivers and the impact made by the yellow school bus on education and the environment, many drivers are taking part in the celebrations and sharing why they do in fact love the bus.
School bus drivers at Greensville County Schools in Virginia, located near the border with North Carolina, decided to throw a Love the Bus paint party. Valerie Seaborne, transportation director at the district, said she wanted to be creative and celebrate differently.
One of the district trainers, Valarie Spruill, suggested a paint party and Seaborne said the idea took off from there.
She said all the participants, five employees and herself, each had different ideas and ways to paint the yellow school bus. Seaborne added that everyone that participated received a gift bag and breakfast.
Seaborne said she originally planned to cook pancakes and sausage in the shape of a school bus but couldn’t find the right shaped cookie cutter. However, she added, the drivers are already asking for another paint party.
Meanwhile, a school bus driver shared bus stories that have inspired her throughout the school year. Julie Nolan, a school bus driver for East Allen County Schools in New Haven, Indiana, said she is amazed at the number of skills a bus driver can perform while transporting a group of children safely.
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She said bus drivers can solve math problems, explain weather phenomena, pass out pencils, console a broken heart, play word puzzles to keep students engaged, explain why lying is never right, and act like a grandparent, all from behind the wheel of a school bus.
At Community Independent School District, in Nevada, Texas, many school bus drivers and aides were treated to lunches and breakfast by their supervisors throughout the month to recognize their hard work.
The national Love the Bus month organized and promoted by the American School Bus Council officially ends on Saturday, but the recognition and celebrations are also encouraged throughout the year.
Editor’s Note: Read more articles highlighting the month at stnonline.com/tag/love-the-bus.
