Last year, Lester LeMasters was selected as the fifth annual “Children’s Choice School Bus Driver of the Year” after one of his students nominated him for helping bring to an end bullying on the bus. Thomas Built Buses is on the hunt for the 2011 winner.
The school bus manufacturer is soliciting essays from school children across the country that explain how their school bus drivers make a difference in their lives. Chancellor Coger, then a fifth grader in Monongalia, W.V., wrote in his winning essay last year that LeMasters literally saved him from on-going bullying.
“A school bus driver’s primary responsibility is to get students safely to school and home again. The essay contest provides a platform for us to shine a light on drivers who do this and so much more,” said Kelley Platt, president and CEO of Thomas Built Buses, of the contest. “Many of the essays describe drivers who have become champions, admired mentors, trusted guardians and dear friends … and we want to recognize those drivers in a big way.”
The contest is open to students in kindergarten through fifth sixth grade. Essays must consist of at least 90 words that describe what makes their school bus drivers so special. Nominations can also include illustrations. The grand prize winner will receive a laptop computer, and the winning driver will receive a $1,000 gift card. Both the student and driver will also win Thomas Built Buses jackets and Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus lunch boxes.
Entries must be postmarked by July 1, 2011.
