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A Rolling Classroom
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Kids need to be loved, but also taught responsibility and respect for others. That’s what I try to teach them on my school bus. I approach it as my classroom but those kids have become my family. It all started a few years ago. I owned and ran a home repair business when my mom was diagnosed with COPD. She needed someone to take her to and from her medical appointments. I had driven trucks before, so I decided to become a school bus driver since it gave me the flexibility I would need. When I started, I saw some of the same ugliness on the bus that was in the outside world: intimidation, segregation, mean words, bullying. Things that shouldn’t exist anywhere, much less on an elementary school bus. I knew I couldn’t change the world but I could change the culture on my bus. After a lot of prayer, I formed a set of rules for the bus that dealt with respect, compassion and acceptance. Then, I set up certain jobs for the kids that mirror the outside world: police officers (to enforce kindness), fire department, doctors & nurses (if a kid scrapes a knee), a translator, even a president and vice president. Next, I thought of a way they could earn some things they needed for school to make it more like the real world. So I came up with a form of pay called bus bucks... 
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