During School Bus Safety Week, Wednesday, October 21st, was a chance for students, parents and guardians to show their appreciation for their bus drivers.
Picking up their students in the early morning hours and taking them home again at the end of the school day, many of the drivers become friends and role models for their young passengers.
Weather is the bane of the school bus driver. From winter roads to rain and darkening hours as winter hours set in and the time changes, the school bus driver still has to be there. Rising in the early morning hours before dawn, the driver goes to pick up the bus, no easy task when it comes to winter. The bus has to be cleaned, defrosted and warmed up before even leaving the bus storage yard.
She, or he, then picks up students waiting along the route, sometimes in the dark, at the end of their often long driveways, along rural roads.
Without the school bus driver, many, if not most students particularly in rural areas, would not have the chance to travel the road to school. In transporting their valuable ‘youth cargo’, they have the responsibility for their safety, their safe arrival at school and again at home at the end of the day.
Now, in this time of COVID, the driver also has to sanitize his or her vehicle to ensure the health protocols are met for the young students.
Northport Public School students in Port Elgin took a moment to show their appreciation for their bus driver, giving her treats and cards.
