Region’s school bus drivers train, compete for safety

CLARKESVILLE – School bus drivers from six Northeast Georgia counties gathered in Clarkesville Saturday to compete to be the safest on the road.

The event was hosted by the Habersham County School System and Transportation Coordinator Stephanie Walker explained more about the event.

“We are hosting a regional school bus safety competition, also known as a school bus rodeo,” Walker said. “We have six counties represented here from the Northeast Area district, or our Pioneer RESA district, and we are doing what is the best of the best of our school bus drivers competing to claim No. 1, but also to go to the state safety competition.”

About 40 drivers from Dawson, Habersham, Hall, Rabun, Stephens and White competed in compensation skills such as diminishing clearance to help judge distances, parallel parking, offset alley, a serpentine course, and simpler skills such as stopping at the proper location during a student pickup, at an intersection and at a railroad.

Habersham County Pupil Transportation Director Tim Dockery began competing in school bus rodeos in 1984 and briefed competing drivers on the rules before Saturday’s event.

Explaining the diminishing clearance event, Dockery said, “This first set of standards you’re going through is the bus width plus 10 inches and it goes down two inches each time until you get to the other end and it’s bus plus two inches. You’ll have one inch of clearance on each side.”

He said the event brings back good memories for him.

Walker, Dockery and others in the Habersham County system have been planning the event for almost a year.

“It’s been probably more than eight months that we’ve been planning this, trying to get this ready to roll out,” Walker said. “We’re real excited today – real cold, but we’re real excited.”

Winners of Saturday’s rodeo are as follows:

Dawson County

1. Faye Wisson
2. Wesley Bales

Hall County

1. Andree Duke
2. Kathy Jones

Rabun County

1. Darnell Lawrence
2. Matt Webb

Stephens County

1. Manda Dean
2. Lisa Bell

White County

1. Kevin Carbonneau
2. Gail Turner

Habersham County

1. Christa Cook – overall highest score for all competitors
2. Dave Christiano

Habersham County – Special Needs competition

1. Cathy Miller and Michele Chitwood
2. Wayne and Betty Allen

Amanda McCallister of Habersham County competes in the serpentine course during Saturday's regional school bus rodeo in Clarkesville.

Lance King of Habersham County is the first to participate in Saturday's regional school bus rodeo. Here, he makes his way through the diminishing clearance skills, where standards go from bus width plus 10 inches at the beginning to bus width plus two inches at the end.

Driver Lance King of Habersham County participates in the parallel parking portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo.

Driver Lance King of Habersham County prepares for judging in the parallel parking portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo.

Driver Paula Hallowell of Dawson County participates in the parallel parking portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo at the Habersham County Fairgrounds in Clarkesville.

Driver Paula Hallowell of Dawson County begins the serpentine portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo in Clarkesville.

Habersham County Pupil Transportation Director Tim Dockery records Dawson County driver Paula Hallowell's venture into the offset alley portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo in Clarkesville.

Habersham County Special Needs Team Cathy Miller, right, and Michele Chitwood, inside the bus, work to load "Tim" during the special needs portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo in Clarkesville. The team placed first in the rodeo event.

Driver Faye Wisson of Dawson County participates in the student pick-up portion of Saturday's school bus rodeo in Clarkesville.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/3/881371/regions-school-bus-drivers-train-compete-for-safety