Tehachapi News

Bus driver pledges to promote positive attitudes

Karen Romo has been driving a school bus for Tehachapi Unified School District for 10 years. She said that she likes her job and enjoys interacting with the kids, and makes it a personal goal to learn their names and provide a positive first encounter as they begin their day.

When the school district handed out employee assignments last month as part of the Character Counts program, a nationwide educational program aimed at instilling values that will support good choices, Romo chose to prepare a project related to citizenship.

“When I looked up the word ‘citizenship’ it talked about an individual’s rights and responsibilities to the community. My responsibility is to hold up my end of the bargain —  that’s driving the bus and keeping the kids safe and doing the best I can do. That’s where our pledge comes in.”

Romo decided to demonstrate her commitment to promote good citizenship within the district by getting her fellow bus drivers to sign a pledge to the community:
“I intend to start each day with a positive attitude.

I intend to model good behavior.

I intend to follow all the laws of the road.

I intend to be a courteous and considerate driver.

I intend to maintain a safe and enjoyable ride to everyone who enters the school bus.”

Romo said the drivers were very excited about the pledge, as well as the support of the District Superintendent Marian Stephens, who also signed the pledge.

Describing her motivation, Romo said that bus drivers aren’t always looked upon favorably, so she felt it was a good idea to offer something to the public to show their dedication to doing what can sometimes be a stressful job.

“When people personalize it there is a better understanding. It’s easy to dislike people or things when you don’t know or understand them.”

Through her years of service, while many people have expressed their appreciation for school bus drivers, Romo said that almost to a person, most people she encounters say they would not want to trade jobs.

“Many adults come up to me after field trips and pat me on the back and express their gratitude,” she said, adding, “Especially the men. When you have to parallel park in Los Angeles, they’re impressed.”

Romo chose one of the many ‘thank you’ cards she has received through the years from grateful students to help illustrate the pledge.

While field trips are always a favorite, Romo is hopeful that her efforts will trickle down into the everyday routines of all the local school bus drivers, and the students as well.

“Because we deal with a lot of kids, there’s always some children who don’t want to be on the bus, or there are other behavioral problems and parents, by nature, are going to side with their child. They just can’t imagine their kids misbehaving on the bus.”

Romo said that she seldom has to deal with conflicts on her bus.

“I like to get on a personal basis with the students and address them by name so they know me. You have to be consistent with kids. I don’t have many confrontations, but if I did I would just try and discuss that situation with the parents, be sure to have the facts right and do the best that I can do. I just want them to understand that I’m trying to take good care of their child.”