LISLE, Ill. — Student transportation provider National Express LLC recently honored the winners of its annual Values Awards, which recognize employees who best demonstrate the company’s core values in the categories of Safety, Customer, People, Community, and Excellence.  

The winners have not only captured the attention of their peers and of National Express leadership, but have also made a long-lasting impact on parents, customers, students, and community members, according to the company.

The award winners are:

Safety
Through training and consistent team communications, General Manager Kathi Corbett and her team from Waterloo, Iowa, went 100 days without a preventable accident, and had a 50% reduction in total and preventable accidents. This milestone was recognized and celebrated by Dr. Jane Lindaman, the superintendent of Waterloo Community School District. Additionally, as preventable accidents decreased, so did employee injuries, with only one in 2017.

National Express also recognized Nancy Bruce for sharing her personal story to help raise awareness around the dangers of distracted driving. Bruce, the general manager at the Wheeling, Illinois, location, spoke out against distracted driving with a safety video, supporting the company’s initiative to stop mobile device usage behind the wheel. Bruce told the story of the day her daughter, Stacey, was killed in an accident caused by a distracted driver. Her bravery in sharing this story has made the company safer.

Customer
Driver Stephanie Conn and monitor Joanna Whitney from Minetto, New York, made a significant and lasting impression on one of the families they serve. They were on their morning route to pick up a four-year-old student with special needs. When they arrived at the stop, the student and her grandfather were not there, which was unusual. Concerned for the child’s well-being, the two went to the home and saw from the window that the grandfather was lying on the floor in need of assistance, and the student was in the house unattended. The door was locked, but Conn and Whitney were determined to get into the house and do what they could to help. As authorities and the student’s parents were called, Whitney climbed through a window to come to the rescue.

People
Chris Paquette, the general manager for Stock Transportation in Edmonton, Alberta, maintained the highest Key Performance Indicator (KPI) achievements across all of Canada at her location in 2017. She embraced DOMO, the company’s new performance dashboard, which ensured her team’s continued, measureable success, according to the company.

Paquette listens, motivates, mentors, and faces challenges head-on. More than just developing her own team, she works with our other locations to share best practices, offers professional advice and helps them gain consistency with their day-to-day operations.

Community
The actions of driver Shari Brate and monitor Ronda Smith from Middletown, Ohio, went above and beyond on a bitter cold day.

While setting out on their route, Shari and Ronda saw a five-year-old child wandering around in only pajamas and a light jacket. Although this was not one of their students, this was a child of their community, and they knew they had to help. They brought the child onto the bus, and he was so cold that he could not speak clearly for several minutes. He was lost, confused, frightened, and in danger of hypothermia. As they wrapped him in their coats, they waited for police to arrive. The police said that without their help, the child could have succumbed to the cold, and that they saved the boy’s life.

These award winners have also been invited to attend the international awards ceremony hosted by National Express in London this May.