Ozzy Lopez Assistant Transportation Director | Pine Crest Preparatory School in Florida


Six years ago, Ozzy Lopez started in pupil transpor-


tation at age 22 as a part-time bus driver for Pine Crest Prep in Boca Raton, Florida. But he has been involved in school transportation since he was 16 years old, when he used to ride the bus with his mom, who was the driver. “She would have me look at the map while she drove so that I would know where we were, how to get there, and how to be proficient at map reading,” he recalled. When joining the school district,


Transportation Director Sharon Knapik, said in her nomination that Lopez im- mediately blended in well with older staff members. “He could always be counted on to show up and never missed a day,” she added. Lopez said it was his mom who encour- aged him to apply for his CDL. “I realized then that I really liked driving a school bus,” he said. “I felt like I was in-charge being able to handle such a large piece of mechanical equipment. It was kind of cool. I have been driving school buses for seven years.” He successfully applied to be a supervisor of routes and


drivers. Since then, he became the assistant director and helps run every single aspect of the operation. “Not only does he interact with all the drivers, but he


has rapport with parents and is able to put them at ease with any concerns,” Knapik continued. “Ozzy never hes- itates to fill in wherever and whenever necessary, so his work schedule changes daily.” Lopez’s current day-to-day duties include bus driving,


supervising the fleet and drivers, planning routes, han- dling purchase invoices for the in-house mechanic shop, assuring parents about the safety of bus riding, and anything else that comes up. “In this business, no two days are alike, but that is what I enjoy the most,” he said. Knapik added that Lopez works long hours, upwards of 11-hour days with no objections, despite having two small children of his own at home. He is bilin- gual in English and Spanish and assists other employees whenever he can, no matter their position. Knapik noted that Lopez finds time to learn mechanical


work with shop technicians. Lopez has high dreams for the pupil transportation


industry. In the future he sees himself as a transportation director, “working in a whole new modern atmosphere, perhaps with self-driving buses, or computer-assisted at least, with artificial intelligent office assistants by my side,” he said.


Kaisha McCulley CDL Trainer & Permanent Substitute Driver | Exeter Township School District in Pennsylvania


In the summer of 2013 following a can-


cer remission diagnosis, Kaisha McCulley was looking at making life changes, her career being one of them. She was a cosmetologist for 11 years but shared that she had fallen out of love that with that profession. “I’m a firm believer that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life,” she said. That summer, during what she called


an “awakening period” in her life, she attended a car show, where a woman began talking to her about the experience and love of school bus driving. “She was in the process


36 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2022


of retiring and convinced me that I would be a great replacement,” McCulley recalled. “A few days later, she introduced me to her boss. Shortly thereafter, I began driving a van for the Exeter Township School District, while going through the training process to obtain my CDL. In February of 2014 I was reassigned to a conventional school bus and have en- joyed and loved my job since.” Director of Transportation Benjamin Bernhart said in his nomination that McCully has been driving a school bus


for eight years. Over the last several months, she has


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