Our school district was offering free bus driver training and I thought, "what the heck - it's free, there's a recession, why not learn a new skill?" (Besides, at least it pays pretty well - a lot better, at the moment, than that fledgling writing career!)
It Became a Case of "Stick-to-it-Ness"
--16 hours classroom
--background checks, drug testing
--Commercial Drivers permit - 4tests (Air Brakes, Gen'l Knowledge, Passenger and ?)
--8-12 hours per week on the training course for about 6 weeks
--You wouldn't believe the memorizing I had to do!
--One hour Q&A, maneuvering, and road test with the PennDot examiner.
What Now...
I'm hired... Substitute Driver. Good. That's enough.
Lesson Learned...School bus drivers have an amazing responsibility and it is incredible how much they have to know - at least in this district.
Drop outs...Of the original 28 who signed up for the course - only 5 stayed with it. Would I have signed on for this if I realized how much work was involved? Hmm, I don't know.
4 comments:
Hey, congrats! That sounds like an interesting and different challenge. I can't believe only 5 of the 26 stuck with it. That really shows how tough or time consuming it was. So, will you be the mean or nice substitute bus driver that the kids will love or hate? I'm betting on the nice one that they will love. Unless they are high school kids, then you can't win no matter what. ha ha!
I am guessing nice one too, except that will HAVE to change because kids like to terrorize substitutes. Be careful of the kids in the back, and don't be afraid to make them sit up front!
(2nd time - I accidentally deleted my original comment).
OOh yes - I'm the nice sub. I love the little ones- they are so funny I've got to post a blog about them. Middle schoolers, however, don't care about "nice". Today I stopped the bus, grabbed the intercom and outlined some rules- mostly to the group "in the back". I'll be subbing for this "run" for a little while, so I'll post some updates.
Post a Comment