FIRST TAKE


STN EXPO, I received a packet in the mail containing about two dozen finalists. It was refreshing to take a step back and read the simple yet poignant words of children as they talk about the great virtues of their bus drivers. While I don’t want to give away any surprises, seeing as the winner won’t be announced until


T Truly Making a


Difference in the Lives of Others By Ryan Gray


next month, I feel compelled to share a few tidbits. Like the little boy who said his driver “saved my life” by stopping a bully’s punches and taunts. Ten there is the little girl who writes about how one day her bus driver could tell that something was wrong and brought a smile to the little girl’s face by simply asking “What’s the matter?” — and refusing to take a grumpy, mumbled “nothing” as an answer. Only the girl knows what kind of long-lasting effect that driver’s kinds words created. Tese are just two examples of how school bus drivers make very big differences in the lives of


their customers, those being student riders and their parents. Lest we forget amid an avalanche of budgetary problems, bringing smiles to the faces of children who can often be scared of what might face them at school or who might be fleeing from trouble at home is the true calling of this industry. Yes, the actual act of driving the kids to and from school safely (or not) is what makes headlines. And there are many procedural issues to grapple with. But shouldn’t the real mission not only encompass driver safety but also driver hospitality? Drivers can make their school buses a welcoming environment that fosters a calming, soothing environment. Several of the essays I “graded” made comments about how the drivers count children during


loading and unloading to make sure all students are accounted for before driving away. Others mentioned how the drivers always come to a complete stop at railroad crossings, open the loading door and look both ways down the track to ensure there is no oncoming train. But the essays that really stood out share stories about how drivers provide a comfortable on-board refuge, one in which kids can prepare for the school day ahead or for the return to their families in the evening. Te experience came full circle with two mesmerizing addresses given to STN EXPO attendees in


late July. John Walsh, host of “America’s Most Wanted” on FOX, spoke about “Living Life with a Mis- sion,” sponsored by Blue Bird Corporation and Bus-Watch by REI, and how school transportation personnel fit into the equation. Many people have their own personal opinions about Walsh and his so-called “agenda.” I met the man and found him to be unassuming, friendly, cooperative and forward thinking. His personal insight into the harrowing experience of he and his wife Revé after the 1981 abduction and murder of their son Adam certainly was powerful. But it was his ultimate message that really drove things home: bus drivers especially can and do make a positive difference everyday in the lives of the children they transport. Te next morning, during a breakfast general session sponsored by Tomas Built Buses, I didn’t


think more tears were possible. But that was before John Musso of the Association of School Business Officials International took the stage. Te son of a former school bus driver, Musso shared his own very personal story about how his father helped shape him into the man he is today, a former principal, superintendent, special educational counsel to the Mayor of Washing- ton, D.C., and now the executive director of one of the world’s largest organizations dedicated to school administrators. You see, Musso, following surgery several years ago to repair an enlarged aorta, suffered a heart


attack on the operating table. Te surgeon had just left his assistant in charge of sewing up when Musso began to hemorrhage. Te kicker was that Musso was supposed to have surgery the day before. But his surgeon delayed it because his assistant was sick, the same assistant who later saved Musso’s life. And that assistant, Musso told the stunned crowd, would never have gone on to col- lege and become trained in surgical science if not for a caring school bus driver who cared enough to listen and give much needed advice on life. Know that what you do every day makes such an impression on young lives. Te beginning of the school year is a great opportunity to remind yourselves of that fact. Just don’t forget to live it. n


HIS PAST SPRING, I WAS HONORED TO BE ASKED TO HELP JUDGE THE THOMAS BUILT BUSES ANNUAL “DRIVER OF THE YEAR” ESSAY CONTEST. MORE THAN 900 SUBMISSIONS POURED IN FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. EARLY LAST MONTH, SHORTLY AFTER THE


12 School Transportation News Magazine September 2010


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