Behind the Wheel

Photo by Chris Hall

Have you driven a carload of kids for more than five minutes? Then you know it's tough to navigate safely and keep things sane when your charges get carsick, argue, lurch for fallen toys, or complain that 15 minutes must be up because they've counted to 60 that many times. So I stand, or drive, in awe of school bus drivers. All told, they cover 4.4 billion miles each year, delivering our children safely in a society that has an incredible disregard for courtesy and safety on the road (ever seen a commuter whiz past a stopped bus that had its flashers on and stop sign out?).

Bus drivers are the first school staffer that many students see in the morning, the first smile, the first sign that professionals are at the helm. For most of the school day, these drivers work isolated from their colleagues on campus and at the depot. To get--and give--a better glimpse of how they do what they do, NEA Today's John O'Neil traveled to rural Kentucky to spend a couple of days with bus driver Tim Southern.

At 4:30 a.m., they rose and hit the road. Now, the way that Tim goes the extra mile is extraordinary (see 'Rural Schools'), and John was determined to cover his story. John's a morning person, so the 4:30 call wasn't as torturous as it would have been for those who prefer to see the other side of dawn. But as he rode with the students through Peach Orchard holler for more than an hour, watching students participate in a learning project that Tim has established, motion sickness set in. Still, as you'll see in these pages, he stuck to the job and got a great story.

All of us here at NEA Today love a good story (thanks to the Kentucky Education Association for sending us the lead on Tim Southern!). If you have one to share, please write in; our contact info is listed below. We may come and check out your school, your office, your route. We're good company--really. And we're always interested in hearing about what's important in your neck of the woods.

Editor-in-Chief
Leona Hiraoka