INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
BEST OF THE BEST NATION’S TOP SCHOOL BUS TECHNICIAN AND INSPECTOR BANK ON TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
WRITTEN BY BARBARA FASING
2013 AMERICA’S BEST SCHOOL BUS INSPECTOR
£ Casey Middleton, right, with NAPT President Don Carnahan of Zonar Systems, benefits from a host of training programs offered at Tulsa (Okla.) Public Schools.
1st Place Blue Trophy: Casey Middleton, Tulsa (Okla.) Public Schools 2nd Place Red Trophy: Bryce Ivie, Utah State Patrol 3rd Place Yellow Trophy: Ryan Texer, Fountain-Fort Carson Schools in Colorado
P
atrick Maloney can raise his coffee cup and gaze across the imposing foothills to the majestic Rocky Mountains as he begins his
daily occupation serving Douglas County Schools in Colorado. Maloney is an ace school bus technician with a great deal to reflect upon. He was recently named winner of the 10th annual NAPT America’s Best School Bus Tech- nician Training and Competition, which took place Sept. 24-27 near Seattle. Te Washington Association for Pupil Trans- portation and PACCAR hosted the event. Te training and hands-on activities were held at Federal Way Public Schools’ state- of-the-art transportation center. A total of 31 school bus professionals from 19 states vied for the title “America’s Best,” including top inspector, which went to Casey Middleton of Tulsa (Okla.) Public Schools. ASE is one of America’s Best sponsors,
along with Delco Remy, Hydrotex, Tomas Built Buses, Voith, and Zonar Systems. Other 2013 event sponsors included Blue Bird, Cummins Northwest, Harlow’s Bus Sales, Schetky Bus & Van Sales, Seon, and Valley Freightliner. Twenty of the participants were in the technician category. Te event offered a
challenging written test, followed by six hands-on, problem-solving stations that in- cluded three electrical stations, a wheel-end station, an oil station and a Bendix air brake station. Maloney maintained the highest overall score in these categories. He recently completed his 10th year as
a technician for Douglas County’s West Terminal in Castle Rock, Colo. He and several other technicians tend to more than 180 large and special education buses, in addition to passenger vans, snow plows, service trucks and 15 white multi-function activity school buses. “Patrick has proven to be a top-notch
mechanic,” said Paul Balon, transportation director at Douglas County Schools. “He strives to be the best he can be every day, and his quality of work and dedication to the job is outstanding.” Maloney’s talents and achievements
may be partially attributed to his at- tendance over the past decade at the Colorado State Pupil Transportation Association-sponsored state technician workshops in Pueblo. Competing there alongside 30 state technicians in June, Maloney nailed first prize in the compe- tition. Tat achievement garnered him the state’s top tech award, launching him
18 School Transportation News November 2013
2013 AMERICA’S BEST SCHOOL BUS TECHNICIAN
£ Patrick Maloney, left, of Douglas County, Colo., shows off his Blue Trophy for winning the 2013 America’s Best School Bus Technician title. He is flanked by Dwight Gleeves of event sponsor Hydrotex.
1st Place Blue Trophy: Patrick Maloney, Douglas County (Colo.) Schools 2nd Place Red Trophy: Jon Studivant, Ozark (Ark.) Public Schools 3rd Place Yellow Trophy: Bill Alsko, Hopewell (Va.) School District
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