FORT MYERS, Fla. — On Jan. 23, Paula Backus, a bus driver for Lee County Public Schools’ West Zone transportation office, was named the district’s 2008 Educational Support Person of the Year.

“Her dedication to her profession and the students of Lee County is what set Ms. Backus apart and made her the clear choice for this honor,” said a statement from the district. “She takes her job very seriously and provides students with much more than just a safe ride to and from school.”

Since she began working for the district, Backus has developed various reward programs for her students. In one, they earned stickers for good behavior. Once they collected a certain number, they redeemed them for prizes in Backus’ prize box.

In another, which runs up until Christmas, students earn “Caught Being Good” tokens, which they can turn in for holiday money.

Backus most recently implemented a program for her fifth-graders where they can win DVDs, CDs, T-shirts and yearbooks. If the students follow bus rules, they receive a ticket, which is entered in a drawing and makes them eligible to receive a prize. She also hands out positive referrals.

When students receive positive referrals, they bring the slip to their school. They are then featured on its television station, which is broadcast to the classrooms, explained Backus. They also go to the principal’s office to get candy.

Moreover, Backus created a “key tag” program for her riders. Each tag — which the students clip to their backpacks — displays the child’s name and bus number, which helps students remember their bus number and enables Backus to quickly identify who should and should not be on her bus.

“I’ve been driving buses for a long time, and this system really works, especially for the first day of school,” she said. “It’s much more effective than the sticker program [I used in the past] because if I put a sticker on their shirt in the morning, it was gone by the afternoon.”

In addition to the reward and key tag programs, Backus has developed a coloring book on school bus safety, and she spent her own money to have copies made for her students. The book includes information on numerous issues, such as how to properly board and disembark a bus, and where to stand while waiting at a bus stop.

Backus was one of four Lee County employees to be nominated for the Educational Support Person of the Year award. In receiving the honor, she represents more than 4,000 support staff members working in the district. Backus will also be the district’s nominee for Florida School-Related Employee of the Year.