Love the Bus Events Celebrate Pupil Transporters

School transportation professionals nationwide were recognized this month with Love the Bus events.

The annual Love the Bus campaign is led by the American School Bus Council.

Here is a recap of a handful of the celebrations for Love the Bus in a few states.

Driver appreciation breakfasts were held in New York, Wisconsin, Colorado, Texas, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Brunswick County (N.C.) Schools’ breakfast event, which was sponsored by school bus seating manufacturer HSM Transportation Solutions, took place at Leland Middle School. A local high school ROTC Color Guard performed for guests, and those who hit career milestones were honored: two longtime transportation leaders who are retiring and three of Brunswick County Schools’ longest-tenured bus drivers — Willa Vernon, Rosemary Long, and Mae Simmons — each of whom has driven a bus for more than 30 years.

Prizes were on hand as well, with Four Fisher-Price school buses and an Outback Steakhouse gift card from HSM being given out in a drawing.  

In West Virginia, Kanawha County Schools recognized all of its transportation staff members who have logged more than 20 years of service with certificates and a special breakfast.

Meal celebrations weren’t limited to breakfast. At Kyrene School District in Tempe, Ariz., transportation department staff members with perfect attendance during the fall semester were awarded with lunch at Italian-American restaurant Buca di Beppo. At Glendale Elementary School District #40, another district in the state, bus drivers were treated to pizza between shifts.

Treats for drivers and other transportation staff members ranged from movie-themed packages with candy and sodas to balloons to plants to hot cocoa to homemade cookies from a teacher in South Carolina. In Lantana, Fla., at Royal Palm School, students showed their appreciation for their bus drivers with treats decorated like mini school buses.

Colorado, Arizona, Florida, and Virginia bus drivers and other transportation staff members also received thank you cards and Valentine’s Day cards from their students. 

Students were also included in the celebration beyond making cards and posters. In North Carolina, they created banners and posters thanking school bus drivers, and in Virginia, students used a bus yard fence as the canvas for a creative outdoor display using red plastic cups. Meanwhile, officers from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reviewed school bus safety procedures with Clearfield Area Elementary School students on Feb. 19.

School transporters also showed off their artistic side: one bus driver for The School District of Palm Beach County (Fla.) decorated his bus with heart-shaped paper cutouts.

To see more Love the Bus photos, go here.