Paying tribute to School Bus Drivers
Article: Wilmington News Staff
Southern Ohio Educational Service Center Superintendent Tony Long summed it up well Wednesday when he said school bus drivers have a “tremendous responsibility.”
The Educational Service Center sponsored the annual dinner and meeting for Clinton County school bus drivers, which included recognition awards and two speakers.
Special recognition was accorded Wilmington City Schools (WCS) bus driver Mike Smith, who on Feb. 22 administered the Heimlich maneuver on a choking child.
“Mike’s fast action and quick thinking may have saved the student’s life,” WCS Superintendent Ron Sexton wrote in an e-mail to district parents this week.
Smith was just two blocks into his morning elementary route when he heard someone crying. When he asked who was crying, he discovered that a kindergarten student was choking on a piece of candy another child had given her.
“He quickly pulled the bus over and radioed the Transportation Department requesting that 911 be called,” wrote Sexton. “After that, he is not really sure about the actual chain of events. He remembers bringing the child to the front of the bus and quickly began to administer the Heimlich maneuver, something that he remembered from safety training.”
The superintendent continued, “If you ask him today, he is really not sure where the piece of candy the student was choking on went. All he knows is that the gasping student was breathing again.”
Safety rule number three, which is “No eating or drinking on the bus,” is posted at the front of every WCS bus, said Sexton.
The event was held at the Laurel Oaks campus in Wilmington. McCoy Catering provided the dinner.
Pictured Above:
Local school bus drivers were recognized Wednesday for milestone anniversaries as a bus driver. Front row left to right are Beverly Bentley with East Clinton (35-plus years), Ruby Stein with Wilmington (10 years), Gina Scott with Wilmington (five years), Donna Rettke with Blanchester (25 years) and Patty Reed with Blanchester (10 years); middle row left to right are Leslie Rasnic with Clinton-Massie (five years), Rebecca Smith with Wilmington (10 years), Arvil Hines with Wilmington (20 years), William Jay Schroeder with Wilmington (five years) and Megan Schafer with Blanchester (five years); and back row left to right are Darrell Little with Wilmington (five years), Angie Williams with East Clinton (10 years), Lisa Begley with Blanchester (15 years), Cheryl Vogel with East Clinton (10 years) and Nancy Fisher with Blanchester (35 years). Not pictured is Kathi Stone with East Clinton (15 years).
