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EDITORIAL DESK Tere’s something to be said about innovation. It has brought us from a time when a computer


filled an entire room to one when a computer can fit in the palm of your hand. Innovation has also brought us advancements in vehicle safety that keep children secure on their rides to and from school. But innovation does not begin and end in a testing facility or in the mind of the next Bill Gates; it exists in all of us. Innovation can be as simple as coming up with a solution to a small problem, like dropping


The Many Degrees of Innovation


By Stephane Babcock


off at different stops students who have a range of personal issues. We don’t need to solve all of the world’s problems, just one to be considered an innovator. It takes looking at something in a new way. Creative thinking has solved any number of issues within the industry, at least on a local level.


For example, although most districts saw little or no funds from the American Recovery and Re- investment Act of 2009, some did benefit by using some good old fashion research and a little elbow grease. Tere were districts that were able to fund air-conditioning installs via IDEA-related funds, others that found a shoe-in with security-related issues, and some that took advantage of the “green” grants available to make their buses run cleaner and healthier. A few even made the pages of the article on page 56 of this issue. In this industry, there are the innovators with names that seemingly everyone knows on the


national level, and then there are those that keep more of a local profile, sometimes even a depart- mental one. Tese mavericks (in the Top Gun sense of the word, not the current political one) know how to resolve issues it in a better or different way than has been done before. We regularly try to identify these mavericks and and bring them to the STN EXPO, like Deming (N.M.). Public School District’s Ray Trejo. His classroom on wheels workshop started as a simple conversation I had with him about a program he had instituted that was increasing test scores and lowering problem prob- lems on his buses. Ten there was Dr. Duane Dobbert, whose presentation on training bus drivers to spot sexual predators at a past NASDPTS meeting led STN founder and chairman Bill Paul to bring him to the next EXPO as both a presenter and a keynote. But it can be much simpler than a new training method or a on-board reading program. Innova-


tion can start with a simple hello, one that creates a bond between driver and student, one that makes a child think that they are not alone, no matter the troubles at home and school or the perceived lack of interest from others around them. Something as simple as a warm greeting can change the course of a child’s academic and personal life in immeasurable ways. I once was told a story by former Montana State Director Maxine Mougeot about how her bus driver changed how she felt about herself as a child. Tat driver changed her life. When she would board the bus, wiping tears after having a troubling episode with her mother, her driver would remind her that life gets better. And it did, as evidenced by her many years serving the school bus riders in her state. I read to my children every night, and recently, I finished a book called “Molly Moon’s Incredible


Book of Hypnotism.” It tells the story of a little girl orphaned at birth who discovers a book that teaches her the magic of hypnotism. Now, I won’t ruin the plot, as it is one of the most enjoyable tales I have read in a long time, but there is one point in the story where Molly and her best friend Rocky hypnotize a group of soft drink company executives to allow them to film a commercial. Te two children use their newfound powers to spread the message to adults everywhere that they should spend more time showing concern for the children around them. In the end, children are the next great innovators. Tey will take the reigns some day and bring


about change that all those before them could have never imagined possible. Take a moment to make a child feel that they are important, that they can do anything. It is those simple innovations that have the greatest effect on not only the child but everyone around them. n


74 School Transportation News Magazine March 2011


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