2021 Bus Driver Appreciation Week

Feb. 8, 2021

Every year at this time, our students, employees and parents show their appreciation for our hundreds of dedicated bus drivers. This year, we get to thank them for a lot more than getting our students safely to and from and school.

Since school buildings first had to close last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers have performed a wide variety of duties, all to support the well-being of our families and staff.

They’ve delivered more than a million meals as part of the Big Bus Food Truck delivery service. They’ve packaged and delivered PPE equipment to keep our students and employees safe. They’ve assisted with the distribution of academic materials and technology devices to make sure students could keep learning at home. They’ve performed health screenings at school buildings to protect everyone’s health and safety. And they’ve even served as caregivers to students participating in the FAST childcare collaborative.

This is all in addition to more typical duties, such as keeping buses cleaned and maintained and, yes, transporting students to and from school whenever required, including bussing students who needed to go to school to take exams. “It was a learning curve for a lot of them, but they were willing to do whatever was asked of them,” says Teresa Williams, senior administrator for the Southern Transportation Area, who wanted to emphasize that she consulted with many of her colleagues from across the district to make sure she could speak on their behalf. “Our team is a group of people who don’t really like to be at home. They are hands-on. They love to be with their children, and they love to be of service to students, families and their fellow employees. They have really stepped up and enjoyed learning new roles.”

That said, drivers are looking forward to getting back to what they do best. “They really do miss seeing their children and hearing their voices and hearing that laughter,” Williams says. “We are all just hoping that everyone follows all the rules so we can all stay safe and healthy.”

We spoke with four bus drivers about their various new roles and about returning to school. 

Margaret “Kay” Buchanan

Buchanan drove a school bus while she was still in high school in the 1970s. She enjoyed it then, and she’s enjoyed it since she joined WCPSS Transportation in January 2014. She’s a driver for Green Elementary, Hilburn Academy and Sanderson High schools, and, like her other colleagues, was disappointed when school buildings had to close last March - and uncertain about what the future held for her and her students. 

Her supervisors say she is one of many who enthusiastically jumped into whatever tasks were put before her. Buchanan primarily has worked with the Big Bus Food Truck program. “Whatever they needed me to do, I feel like it was my job to do it,” she says. “That’s the way I was brought up, to respect my job and to respect those who gave me the opportunity to have a job.”

So much so that the only time she has missed any work in the last year was when her husband had a heart attack in April. He’s doing well now; he even went back to work just two weeks after the incident.

Buchanan loved being a part of making sure families were fed during the pandemic, but she is “ready for students to come back and get back in the swing of the things.”

“I thank the good Lord that I was able to get a job that I enjoy,” she says, “because I love those kids.” 

Casandra Stewart

Stewart has driven Wake County students for 29 years, but she seemed to have no trouble pivoting to different roles during the pandemic. She has helped with food delivery, training and teaching peers’ new protocols and standards, as well as various other job assignments throughout the district. “You get to meet different people, so it’s really been a pleasure,” she says.

Like many, she is particularly proud of her work with the Big Bus Food Truck. “Knowing that those kids are getting fed, it’s been a good job,” she says. “It’s been a great adventure being able to do that for my students.

“I really miss the students, getting to talk with them and just seeing their faces,” she adds. “I’m excited to get back.”

Yolanda Lopez

Lopez has been an integral member of the Warehouse Team, packing up masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and other key items for delivery to schools. “She has been an inspiration to many drivers through this pandemic,” her supervisors say. “She will take the lead on any project and motivate and encourage the team until it is completed. She is the first to arrive and the last to leave.”

Lopez says she is happy to support the district, whether it’s by driving students to and from Partnership Elementary, Longview School and Athens Drive High, or by working in the warehouse. “Whatever job assignment they tell us to do, I’m just glad I can do something, because some people don’t have a job,” she says. 

She says she is eager to get back to driving students again, and just asks that students remember all the safety procedures. “Oh yes, I miss all the smiles and them talking on the bus,” she says. “The only thing I can say is, stay safe.”

Jamie Bramble

Bramble has been supporting the FAST program at Herbert Akins Elementary, making sure seven students get logged in to class each day and complete all their assignments. Two of those students are her own children, 1st and 4th graders. “They get mad at me sometimes, because I tell them that they’re going to come last,” she says with a laugh. “When we’re at work, I’m not mommy, I’m Miss Jamie.”

Bramble, a bus driver for three years for Holly Grove Elementary, Holly Grove Middle and Holly Springs High, says she has “done a little bit of everything” since last March, including food delivery.

She says the FAST program assignment “definitely keeps you busy and I enjoy it. I like that teachers appreciate what we do. After their busy day teaching our kids, they don’t have to go home and finish homework with their own children.”

But Bramble is ready to get back to her bus route. “Honestly, I call them my bus babies,” she says. “I really do pride myself on getting to know my kids’ names and getting to know them on a personal basis. So I am very excited to see them again.”