Wake Up Wednesday

GOOOOOD MORNING, KIDS!!!! That's how 9 of Carver's finest greeted the kids on Buses 24 and 48 last Wednesday morning starting at 6:45 a.m. That's right. We all got up extra early to surprise the kids on those buses.  What were we thinking you might be asking.  Well...let me explain.

I heard a teacher at the Ron Clark Academy mention a book called KIDS DESERVE IT as I was in a session hosted by Kim Bearden (co-founder of RCA). The teacher was saying that the author encouraged principals to make positive phone calls home and Kim mentioned that she and the author, Todd Nesloney, were friends.  I made a mental note of the book but hadn't done anything about reading it, until a week ago. I was already making positive phone calls home, but I thought I might get another great idea, so I downloaded it on my Kindle app. I read the section on positive phone calls home, smiled to myself,  and kept reading. I came across a section that talked about riding the bus with kids.  I read it with pride knowing I had already done that last year when I participated in Shadow a Student. I had ended my day shadowing the third grader, Tanner, home on the school bus.  As I kept reading though, I realized Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome weren't talking about riding the bus home. They were talking about riding the bus to school. He was encouraging his readers (me) to pick the kids up...in the morning...the very early morning.   I thought about it for a minute and decided I was going to do it.  I mean, seriously, I had ridden the bus myself as a child and had to be at the bus stop early, so why not.  I could do this. I immediately sent an email to the Carver team with the subject line Crazy Idea.  I thought maybe 1 or 2 of them would want to ride with me, but I was pleasantly surprised when 8 of my colleagues quickly replied to me and were willing to make the early morning trip as well. I called our transportation director who was totally on board and excited too.  We were all set.

As my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and I left the house in the dark, I told my husband I didn't know how people left this early to go to work every single day.  I admire them all. My mom did it for more than 40 years, but I was never a morning person.  That trait goes to my little brother.  He was so annoying as we would get ready for school all those years ago and I'm betting his wife would say he still is. We all arrived at 6:10 a.m., trying to act like we were wide awake.  I had asked them to bring pom poms, megaphones, etc., to greet the kids so we were fully prepared to brighten their morning.  We divided up, and after singing Happy Birthday to one of our second grade teachers, and going Facebook Live to let everyone know what we were doing, we loaded our buses.  We were so excited (or sleepy) we forgot to take a group picture of all of us "early birds".

It took Bus 48 approximately 15 minutes to get to our first stop. The kids didn't know what to think as they walked up the steps onto the bus and heard all of us shout GOOOOD MORNING!  There was shock on many faces or no expresson at all.  Once the kids realized what was happening, though, we got many smiles and hugs.  One little boy said, "This is fantastic". We even welcomed the middle school, junior high and high school kids.  They were definitely not as impressed as our elementary kids, or at least, they didn't want to act like they were. After several stops, the entire bus of kids (minus the junior high and high school) began shouting GOOOOD MORNING with us as student after student loaded.   The feeling on the bus was one of energy and fun.  The kids were loving it. We sung a verse of The Wheels On The Bus, and of course, we took this opportunity to recite all of the House Chants.  The kids wanted to know if we were going to do this every day and if we were going to be on the bus to take them home that afternoon.

At the end of the day, I thnk the kids would tell you we made their day, when in reality they made ours. The next day, as I was walking down the hall and passed a class of students,  I heard one of the kids telling her friend, "Hey, she rode my bus yesterday". I knew right then and there, it made a difference.  When I pass a Bus 48 kid in the hall now, we look at each other a little differently.  There is a new connection that wasn't there before. Just like the connection Tanner and I made after I shadowed him last year.  I also had other teachers and staff asking if we were going again, because they wanted to go.  I can honestly say, I didn't think I would be getting up again at 5:30 a.m. to meet the buses at the Neosho School District's bus barn, but I'm ready and willing to make another trip. A big shout out to the Carver team who led the way on our first WAKE UP WEDNESDAY.  Tiffany Rea, Kacie Barratt, Ashley Gilion, Michelle Allen, Renee Cummins, Shawndel Rainwater, Trina Leaf and Hannah Farkas did a great job and they truly Made A Difference on Buses 24 and 48. Ask yourselves what you are going to do this week to make a difference or will it just be status quo. Will you make the effort or will you even give it another thought? Will you make someone's day by a simple act of kindness?  I know this Wednesday there will definitely be another group of kids who will be surprised when those doors open and they climb up the stairs and are greeted with GOOOOOD MORNING, KIDS!