BUS DRIVER'S DAY
By Denise O'Dea
October 21 marks School Bus Driver
Appreciation Day. School bus drivers are responsible for the most
precious cargo in America - our children. They perform outstanding
service to the children of Kansas who depend on school bus
transportation while traveling to and from school and school
activities.
Did you know that school buses are one of
the safest forms of transportation in the nation today? They are
2000 times safer than riding in your family car. The familiar
yellow school bus has become one of the most powerful icons in
American society. Day in and day out, the nations’ 418,000 yellow
buses travel more than 4.5 million miles a year at a cost of nearly
$10 billion, carrying 24 million children to and from school.
Most people do not realize the constant
behind-the-scene effort to make the student bus ride a safe and
positive experience. Bus drivers take great pride in their
training, driving skills, and the discipline it takes to deliver
our students safely to and from school and activities each day.
Their dedication and commitment to sharing
their knowledge and expertise about school bus safety are unequaled
and they realize the awesome responsibility they assume each time
they sit in the driver’s seat of a school bus loaded with
pupils.
Currently, there are 5,406 school buses in
Kansas that transport 199,556 pupils over 75 million miles a year.
The 5,650 bus drivers are often the first representative on the
school system that a child sees in the morning and the last at
night.
School bus drivers must attend safety
meetings, first-aid classes, defensive driving classes, have a good
driving record, a good sense of humor, and a bottomless pit of
patience. The drivers give pupils a good start on the day, dry
tears, dispel fears, find lost notebooks, and most faithfully
deliver students safely to their destinations.
But, our community must do its’ part, too,
so we can make it even safer to ride on a school bus. You can do
this by encouraging our students to follow the safety rules both on
and off the bus and by supporting the efforts of school bus
drivers, so they can spend their time driving, not disciplining a
child in the back seat. And, most importantly, when you are driving
a vehicle that approaches a bus, either from the front or back, you
need to be prepared to stop when the flashing red lights and the
stop arm are displayed. By not stopping, not only is the law being
broken, but the safety of our students is being compromised.
School bus drivers in the Wellsville
district are: Miriam Barthol, Debbie Coons, Kevin Kelly, Glory
Livingston, Kim Moore, Bob Murphy, Mona Murphy, Karin Ponce,
Cynthia Quaintance, Barbara Sims, and Curtis Wright.
So, join with us in celebrating the school
bus drivers in your life and remember to drive a little more
cautious when you see that big yellow bus rumbling down the
highway.
