Over the past few years, I’ve tried to manage my schedule on Friday’s so there’s time for creative outlets, 20% projects, and other stuff I might not devote a Wednesday to… a way to end the week on a high feeling, and launch me into the weekend.
This week things kept piling up, and with the number of meetings, interviews (we’re interviewing for a number of positions for various departments), tasks to complete, I felt pretty full by the morning of Friday.
And, I knew there was more to come, as one of our drivers called off last minute, and all the subs were already in use. Ugh!
But, I turned it around! I took what was given to me, and made it a great afternoon. Here’s what happened.
Normally when I cover for a driver, it’s a matter of getting the kids home on the bus, and covering a high school / intermediate school run is pretty easy – the kids all know where they live, and do their part in making it happen.
That’s not to say that our K-3 kids aren’t a delight, but honestly, sometimes it can be hard to identify their house – a kindergartener seldom knows where along the bus ride they are…
On the first run, taking high school kids home, I identified a student who rode the whole trip, and was still on when I headed back towards campus.
The way our geography works, our high school is around the corner a bit from the rest of campus, and depending on where kids live, it may seem as though they ride for a long time. This guy’s address was right by our other buildings, and so I asked him about it.
“Hey Bill, wanna get home sooner?”
“Um, sure, maybe, yeah, why?”
“I think there’s a bus that can make that happen for you… want me to check it out when I get back?”
“Sure!”
Having the luxury of also knowing where our other buses go, I was able to identify a quicker route home for Bill, instead of riding around on the bus I drove. He’d be home in 7 minutes from the high school, as opposed to 30. What a deal!
When I got back to base, I worked with our super secretary to make it happen. She had a side story about Bill, too, that clarified a few things, but needless to say, we moved him to a new bus, and reduced his afternoon transport time by quite a bit. Clutch!
It got better from there…
In round 2, I loaded up an excited group of kids from our 4-5 building. Friday had them all fired up, but having been their sub driver before, most recognized me, and knew what worked best for a comfortable ride.
I am by no means the kind of driver I had in high school (very loud, very mean, and very much not approachable!) and I don’t mind a bit of commotion.
The kids wanted me to play a game of quiz-time, and I obliged. “Ok, send me a question” I said. “No, you, Mr. Johansson – you’re quizzing US!” they all shouted back. Ok…
“What’s the capital of Sweden?” I asked. Blank stares.
“What’s the capital of Iceland?” More of the same.
“Song lyrics! We want song lyrics!” they demanded.
We had a quick conversation about how I don’t really hear the lyrics (true) and wouldn’t be able to use that category. Much later in the day, and I’m skipping around the timeline here, my own kids at home suggested I should’ve use the lyrics from Hamilton, the musical.
While I love that music, and my kids re-enacting every scene verbatim, I am lost for words, literally. I think it has to do with how my brain processes music. Beats, pitch, BPM – no problem! The words to a sea chanty? No dice!
On with the bus ride.
It doesn’t happen all the time, but every now and then I pull too far for a stop, or miss seeing the address of a house. It happens to all bus drivers, especially on a new route, or a sub route.
We do the best we can with what we have, and the safety of our kids on the bus is the number one priority – and scoping a house number from 100 meters across a front yard is sometimes tricky.
I missed Hannah’s stop.
As I pulled away down the street, she politely raised her hand.
“Excuse me, Mr. J. You missed my stop. I live over there.”
Oh no!
I made eye contact with Hannah, and listed to her as she described where she lived, and I began plotting a course of action. Turning a school bus around, you see, is no small feat. It’s at least 112 feet long, weighs 900 tons, and other measurements as well! What to do?
Easy. Hannah’s street (and lucky for me!) ended in a cul-de-sac and I was turning around anyways.
“You ok with crossing?”
“Yep. Thank you.”
Problem solved. We looped around, found Hannah’s stop, and made it happen. She fluttered across the street and was on her way towards a weekend of fun.
I safely delivered the rest of my kids to their correct locations, sans mishaps, and returned to the bus garage. As I headed in, I began to reflect on what happened, and how to follow up.
Hannah had done such a nice job of speaking up, and solved the situation by advocating for her needs in a calm and courteous manner. I was impressed!
I pulled out a technique from when I used to teach high school…When I got back to base, I called her mom to tell her what happened.
“Hello! Is this Hannah’s mom? It’s Andreas Johansson from Streetsboro City Schools calling…”
A call from school is not what everyone wants on Friday afternoon…
“Um, yes, this is she, Hannah’s mom.”
“Great! Just wanted to tell you how great she did on the ride home! And I’m sorry I missed her stop. Have a great weekend!”
“Oh. Ok. Thank you! I’ll be sure to tell her!”
❤️ What a great way to end a Friday.
*Bill and Hannah are not their real names, obviously…