Thanks for the ride, pupils in Warren tell bus drivers

By Ed Runyan

A school bus is the safest way for children to get to school and home from school.

WARREN — Every day, 30 men and women drive 2,600 pupils in the Warren City School District to and from school, usually without incident.

Thursday, pupils showed the drivers that their work is appreciated.

At an assembly in the new Willard K-8 building on Willard Avenue Southeast, many of the drivers received a big thank you from hundreds of the Willard pupils, as well as kindergarten through fifth-graders from the rest of the district.

Each driver was presented with a gift bag containing thank-you cards from the kids. Later, the drivers were treated to an appreciation brunch at the bus garage, 600 Roanoke Ave. S.E.

It was a local observance of the national Love the Bus program.

During the program, attended by Mayor Michael O’Brien, city council members and school board members, Tom Klingeman, a liaison between the school district and the school system, said the bus driver is an important part of the school day.

“Besides transport, these fine people are close to our children,” he said. “On any given day, they additionally wipe noses, assist pulling up boots and give encouragement about uncovered necks and heads.”

He added, “These people care, and while not the highest-paid individuals, they are at the front lines of education — safety, security and readiness of our Warren school students.”

When the kindergarten and first-grade pupils were asked how many ride one of the district’s 34 buses, more than half raised their hand.

The American School Bus Council, which created Love the Bus program in 2007, says a school bus is the safest way for children to be taken to and from school.

Some reasons for this are the safety features on a bus, including its color and size, height, reinforced sides, flashing red lights, cross-view mirrors and stop sign arms, plus the training bus drivers get and the checking that is done of drivers’ background and driving records.

Pete Japikse, transportation director for the Ohio Department of Education in Columbus, was caught by surprise when he asked pupils the meaning of the colors yellow and black.

One pupil said the Raiders of Warren G. Harding High School, when Japikse was alluding to the school bus.

“Do you know the best thing?” Japikse asked. “You get to school each day safe and make it home safe each day. So we want to thank them,” he said.

runyan@vindy.com