As summer winds down, in this seasonal gallery, we share interesting and unusual school bus-related photos submitted to us this spring and summer by pupil transporters throughout the country.
Pupil transportation in pictures: Spring/Summer 2014
Theresa Woods, a bus driver and office manager for Taylor County School District's transportation department in Perry, Florida, submitted this photo of the operation's bus yard at sunset.
Doug Deyoung, also a school bus driver for Grand Ledge (Mich.) Public Schools, received a gift from the family as well. He drives the family's kindergartner, while Mosier transports their older elementary student. The goodie bags include marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers, and the labels say, "We need s'more bus drivers like you!"
School bus driver Ty Copsey snapped this photo while on a field trip. Copsey works for Surprise Valley Joint Unified School District in Cedarville, California. Pictured is a trail that's about 7 miles west of the district.
Waterford (Calif.) Unified School District's transportation department participated in the city's inaugural light parade in 2013. Two thousand lights were attached to the bus and ran from a generator. Director of Transportation Suzanne Bauer says that there were about 30 entries in the parade, and her operation wants to double its light count for the parade this year.
School buses can take on a whole new life after they're retired from student transportation service. Dave McDonald of Rosco Vision Systems submitted this photo of a school bus that is now used for safari tours at The Wilds in southeastern Ohio. To see more photos of repurposed school buses, click here.
This photo hangs in the drivers' break room at Campbell (Calif.) Union School District. Driver Trainer Jackie Cresci says the photo was taken in the 1930s, and it came from S&M Commercial Body and Fleet in nearby San Jose. "They have a room full of pictures like [this]," Cresci says. "S&M was kind enough to make copies of pictures for us."
This photo, from the Lower Merion Historical Society in Pennsylvania, shows a circa-1918 Autocar school bus in operation at Lower Merion School District. According to the historical society's Ted Goldsborough, the bus was manufactured at the Autocar Co. plant in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The photographer, Frank Kromer, graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1919.
Kim Mosier, a school bus driver for Grand Ledge (Mich.) Public Schools, received some thoughtful gifts from a family she drives for.