Being a teacher is more than just passing on your knowledge to your students. It’s about encouraging and bonding with the students, as well as feeling a true, deep sense of care for each and every pupil.
A teacher is one of a child’s first role models- and whatever learning experience they have will undoubtedly shape their adult lives.
It’s a principal’s job to make sure that all teaching is to the highest possible standard.
They oversee school staff and teachers, develop the curriculum, and make sure that students have a safe and productive environment to learn in. Principals are incredibly dedicated to the wellbeing of the students- and this next story proves just that!
One school principal proved how dedicated she was to her students by becoming a bus driver!
Norman Smith Elementary School in Clarksville, Tennessee, was experiencing a shortage of bus drivers which had got worse over the course of the pandemic, meaning that some children were struggling to get to and from school.
Principal Emily Clark felt so touched by the problem that she decided to do something about it- by training to be a bus driver herself.
Being a principal is an important job- you’re essentially running a whole school.
But Emily proved that she truly cares about her students by giving up even more of her time to make sure that they were able to get to and from school safely.
“After the students stay in the hallway for awhile you realize gosh it’s sad. You want them to be home,” Emily told NewsChannel 5. “They see me in the hallways and classroom but they couldn’t believe I was behind the bus.”
Emily had to take part in a lengthy training course before she was able to drive the school bus.
She had to study from a manual and take some practice tests online- but last week, she was finally able to drive her first route.
“Students thought it was special that their principal was driving the bus,” Emily said. “One student actually came up to me and said ‘wait; are you the real Miss Clark driving the bus?'”
Driving a bus full of students is quite a lot of pressure, but Emily says it also gives her an extra opportunity to bond with her students.
“It’s relationship building when you drive the bus and take that time to talk to them.”
In Montgomery County, more than 20,000 students rely on taking the bus to school each day.
These students might live too far away from school to walk, or have parents who don’t drive. A child’s education is so important, so we can’t underestimate the key role that school bus drivers take in providing a child with an education.
There’s still a shortage of drivers, so if you’re in the area and are interested in helping out the community, why not consider being trained up like Emily?
You can apply to begin your driver training by clicking here.
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