That is not required. I am BLS certified, I am also a “combat lifesaver”(from my Army days) and first aid is one of my hobbies.
Really? In the 60s, I was in elementary school in CA. During two of those years, I had to take three buses on the way to and from school. I transferred once at the main HS where most of the bus routes converged and then again at the middle school to get to the “special” school.
Yeah. I grew up back East and the short times my family lived out in the countryside, we actually lived within walking distance of my school.
When I remember how we acted on the bus as kids, I don’t blame him a bit.
As @Paul_was_in_Saudi pointed out isn’t as bad as it used to be because of todays youth being too glued to their phones. Back in the day drivers had to deal with kids that were just getting woke up and were bored and every bus had a couple of kids that would occupy their time messing with other kids and the driver out of boredom.
I don’t have any good memories of taking the bus. It sucked. More like Forest Gump’s bus ride without a Jenny.
I considered driving as a job after retirement. After recalling riding a school bus for eleven years of school, on a 45-minute long route, I knew I couldn’t do that to myself; I was so relieved when I got a car in my junior year and was able to drive to school in ten minutes instead.
Our biggest hope was that the bus driver would get the bus stuck, either on a muddy road, in a snowbank, or by backing up into some driveway and going off the road. We weren’t very nice to our drivers, I guess.
- Can we call you “Cheech” now?
- What got you interested in doing this?
- Did you have a CDL before or did they take care of that in the training?
A friend of mine got into driving a bus when her kids were young. Something about she needed SOME kind of job with benefits (spouse was, er, not contributing much) and she taught at some kind of preschool during the day, so it all worked out. It may not have made her rich, but she’s still at it 20+ years later and she mentioned the health benefits were amazing, when her husband developed a terminal illness.
Interesting that you mention driving students to a Catholic school. When I was in elementary school in PA, the school had its own buses - which frequently broke down. Later on (maybe 7th or 8th grade), some kind of law was passed that required the public school district to provide bus service to us, which I never quite understood but made transportation a LOT more reliable. I did not realize this was a widespread thing (to the best of my knowledge, this doesn’t happen where we live now).
Or how about in floodwaters?
[quote=“Mama_Zappa, post:47, topic:951517”]
- Can we call you “Cheech” now?[/quote]
You may call me whatever you like.
When i retired from Saudi, I subscribed to some sort of job website. They sent me an email. My first choice was teaching, but I have no credentials that are valid in the US.
I had a CDL many, many years ago, but I let it lapse as I was overseas and unable to keep up with the requirements. School District #1 trained me up. Once I got the license, I dropped them like a hot potato for better-paying district that is nearer my home.
As you mentioned, the health benefits are pretty spectacular.
I am in Pennsylvania, so the situation with the Catholic schools you describe applies to this area too.
I forget what you taught in Saudi (and Qatar): was it English? If so, I wonder if you could get a job with a local community college teaching ESL. No clue what credentials are required for that, but presumably your experiences overseas would count for a fair bit.
You may also be able to get American teaching credentials fairly easily. Look into whether Pennsylvania has an alternative licensure route.
Well, honestly I was hired for 5 hours a week at $25/hour to teach English. I gave it a pass. The benefits with bus driving are very good and I am more than ready for a change.