Hello to all and welcome to my first blog …
I have to tell to you that this is the last thing this school bus driver thought I would ever do. I am very technologically savvy and love everything that technology can bring to our everyday lives … but blogging??? Me??? No way.
So what’s caused this sudden urge? Maybe the best way to answer that is for me to go back a few years in my life. I had sold my business of nearly 15 years in 2003. After which I had been doing some consulting for our community’s public school district in Northwest Iowa. The consulting thing was going along just fine … but that was the problem. Something was missing and I didn’t know what it was. My wife and I are CASA volunteers but we needed more.
You see I love kids. Kids trust me and I trust them. That is unless they do something to prove differently. It’s always been that way for me and hope it will always be. During high school and college I coached little kids wrestling. It was then I realized I had this ability to connect easily with kids … young and old.
My connection with kids got even stronger when, years ago, I started to referee wrestling. I began at the junior high level, moved to the high school level, and eventually college. And I LOVE IT !!!! However, I am getting older and won’t be able to referee forever. Yet, I still have that need to stay connected with kids.
One day a friend asked me to consider driving a school bus. And since the district was short of drivers I thought I would give it a try.
After a while I found the communication skills I developed from the years of experience in refereeing wrestling was a perfect fit for this job. I believed then and still believed now the primary skill needed for being a good bus driver is not the skill of making that perfect left turn or having the ability to back up with using only the side mirrors. Rather, I believe it’s having the ability to communicate … especially to kids.
I started driving in May 2003. I quickly found this job requires much more than driving skills. I found myself becoming a parent figure, friend, mentor, tutor … you name it. But none of that could have happened without being able to be a good listener and have what I call “connection” skills.
Along the path of this latest career I found kids want and need to talk … as long as they can trust you.
So, here I am blogging. Blogging – isn’t that the most ugly sounding word? Anyway, all of this mass of words not professionally put together leads me here.
I have told my wife that someday I needed to write a book about the “Stories” I have heard from my new friends. Maybe this blogging thing will suffice. Who knows …
Some of these stories are inspiring and some depressing. Some hilarious and others sad. Others that are unbelievable and some that are …
My first story will come soon. Stay with me …
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school bus driver, social media, bus driver, school bus, CASA, students, high school [/tags]
school bus driver, social media, bus driver, school bus, CASA, students, high school
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I can’t imagine what it’s like to have your job. Thanks for sharing and being so open. I think that bus drivers are taken for granted. It’s such an important job to keep our kids safe, but also be a listening ear. Keep up the good work Bob.