Above and Beyond Award Informati

Above and Beyond Award for 2010

Loudoun Special Needs Team Wins

2009 Sur Lock Above and Beyond Award

The driver, Garrett Jackson, and his team of three bus attendants; Enny Mata Moreno, Amalia Normil and Raquel Nuñez on Loudon Bus 706 go above and beyond each day to provide a safe and meaningful ride for their special passengers.

Robin Norton, Supervisor, Special Needs Transportation, Loudoun County Public Schools, nominated this team for the award. The VAPT selection committee reviewed the nomination and commends the driver and assistants for their dedication to their children and for going above and beyond in transporting them to and from school.

Due to the severity of the disabilities of the students transported on bus, extraordinary efforts are involved in their daily transportation.

The students on bus 706 are transported from Loudoun County to an out-of-county tuition school. The bus transports three students, three attendants (one attendant per student), and the bus driver. Each child has special needs requiring one-on-one attention during transport, which, on any given day, can take up to two hours either to or from school

Each attendant vigilantly monitors their assigned child, knowing and responding to the students’ individual needs, and yet collectively they work as a team. They are all involved in calming the children if any of them becomes agitated, encouraging one another and lending assistance when needed. Together, they maintain an immaculate bus, wiping down the interior surfaces with disinfectant every night at the completion of the run with supplies purchased from their own funds.

Not to be forgotten is the driver, who maintains focus on the safe, reliable transport of these students every day. The driver shows the utmost respect to all three attendants on the bus, greeting them humbly and gentlemanly every day with, “Ladies,” greets the children and caretakers every morning, and always has a friendly goodbye in the afternoon. The driver treats the attendants as his equal, assisting them when able and encouraging them on a constant basis.

On the basis of the teamwork and unending dedication, this team was recognized with the Above and Beyond Award.

Additional Information From the Loudoun County Web Site…..

Honoring the Team on the ‘Happy Bus’

Other motorists may not realize it, but the Loudoun County Public Schools “happy bus” shares the road with them during their daily commute while transporting three “very” special education students from Loudoun to an educational facility near Fort Belvoir year-round.

The “happy bus” is the designation given to the bus driven by 11-year LCPS veteran bus driver Garrett Jackson and his team of three bus attendants; Enny Mata Moreno, Amalia Normil and Raquel Nuñez.

In January, an LCPS parent and teacher observing the care and attention provided by the team while assisting a student boarding Jackson's bus wrote a letter of commendation on behalf of the team and directed it to the LCPS Transportation Department. In June, the team was again commended when they were presented with the Above and Beyond Award in Special Needs by the Virginia Association of Pupil Transportation. Special recognition for the award was given to the team before their peers during the annual Transportation In-Service Training held in August.

The selfless foursome has made the 200-mile, round-trip journey while caring for their three students for the past three years. They all insist almost in unison, “It is a team effort…we all work together. We are a great team.”

“It is an honor,” said Jackson, “when someone gives you recognition for doing your everyday job.”

“We all feel honored to work with these students,” added Moreno, Normil and Nuñez. “Our students need a lot of love and attention. We treat them like they are our own kids…They are our own kids.”

“I've driven one of the students for nine years,” said Jackson. “This student has grown up with me. As we added each new bus attendant over the years, we took what had worked best in building relationships with the students in the past and used that to successfully build new relationships.”

Finishing each others' sentences as many close teams do, the ladies added, “when we climb onto the bus in the morning, we're greeted with, ‘Good morning, ladies…it's another great day.' We take our work seriously, but we make each day a fun day.”

“If it were not for Mr. Jackson though, we would not be here doing what we do, said Normil. “We're committed to the students every moment of every day and we all agree our job is not over until the bus is parked.”

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