“In most states, a parental waiver only


waives the right of the parent to sue. It does not waive the right of the child to sue when they reach a majority age. Never accept a waiver without talking to your attorney,” Burns said.


‘DANCING’ IN 3-D Attendees were pumped up at the end


of the day after hearing actor and “Danc- ing With the Stars” season 13 winner J.R.


Martinez present his keynote address “Accelerate Your Life in 3-D: Desire, Dedi- cation and Discipline,” sponsored by Blue Bird Corporation and Cummins Inc. He recounted his personal story that included many surprising detours along the way, forcing him to adapt to new towns, new schools and, ironically, through a tragic event, a new path that has led him to a ful- filled life he never thought he would have. Martinez then related these adaptations


to life to changes that can occur within an industry and how those within the in- dustry must remain adaptive and positive when things seem unpredictable. Martinez also recalled riding the school


bus during his elementary and middle school years. He also described one school bus driver, “Turner,” who always put him in a good mood and even helped him avoid get- ting beat up by kids at his bus stop one day. He said he never forgot the driver’s


Las Vegas Takes Top Honors at 2012 Nevada School Bus Roadeo; Clark County Transportation Director to Co-Chair 2013 STN EXPO


Clark County School District bus driver Judith Reinhardt


took home Top Gun honors and was named Rookie of the Year at the 34th Nevada School Bus Roadeo. The school bus driving competition was held July 21 as a kickoff to the 19th annual STN EXPO in Reno, Nev. The rodeo took place in the parking lot of the Grand Sierra Resort. In addition to her honors, Reinhardt also took first place in the


transit bus driving competition. She scored a total of 576 points out of a maximum 750 points. Angela Mendes of Washoe Coun- ty came in second, scoring 549 points, and Dwight Langdon of Douglas County was third with 538 points. Reinhardt was recently promoted to driver trainer for Clark


County. She also received congratulations from U.S. Senate Ma- jority Leader Harry Reid, who hails from the Las Vegas area. “Clark County School District is very proud of Ms. Reinhardt’s ac-


complishment and her ‘Achieving Gold!’ In our current climate of the Olympics, she is well on her way to setting an all-time achieve- ment goal for the number of gold medals,” said Frank Giordano, director of transportation at Clark County and pictured above. “Judith is a very dedicated driver and trainer. We are glad she is part of our team to serve the students of Clark County.” In the small bus division, two Washoe County School District


bus drivers from Reno took first and second place: Janet Hard, with 552 points and Genna Garrett with 525 points. Clark County school bus driver Yuri Gomez took third place with 488 points. In the conventional bus class, the first place winner was


Churchill County Schools bus driver Susan Taddo with 543 points. Steve Rooney of Douglas County School District was sec- ond with 500 points and Nikki Allred of Storey County came in


third, scoring 493 points. Te highest-scoring dis-


trict was Douglas County, which earned a total of 5,632 points in the one- day competition. While Clark County was


well represented in this year’s Nevada School Bus Roadeo, it also will be next year. Giordano last month was named co-chair of the 20th annual STN EXPO, scheduled for July 20-24, 2013, in Reno. A district employee since 1982 except for one year away as a


Judith Reinhardt


diesel mechanics instructor at a technical school, Giordano took on his current role in 2009 after serving the previous three years as the director of vehicle maintenance. Previously, he was a ve- hicle maintenance coordinator from 2001 to 2006. Before that, he was a diesel mechanic for the district. In 2001, Giordano began implementing biodiesel into Clark


County’s fleet. Two years later, the U.S. Department of Energy rec- ognized the district with a partnership award through the Clean Cities Coalition. In 2010, the district received another award from the American Lung Association and the Nevada Department of Air Quality for efficiencies and innovations. Giordano oversees the transportation of 100,000 students on


1,500 school buses daily for the fifth-largest school district in the United States. He also indirectly supervises 1,800 transportation employees. ■


56 School Transportation News Magazine September 2012


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