By Caroline Monday
“A happy child is a learning child.”
That’s Cecil Harmon’s motto. It is a motto he
has used for the more than 20 years he has worked as a school
bus driver for Watauga County Schools, a profession he says
is his “calling.”
Quite comfortable behind
the big wheel, Cecil Harmon competes in school bus
rodeos. Photo
by Caroline Monday |
Harmon understands the importance and trust
the parents and schools of the area place in him when a
child steps on his bus. He is not only responsible for their
safety, but also to make sure they arrive at school ready
for a day of learning.
Harmon is a native of Watauga County, having graduated from
Cove Creek High School. He drove the school bus during his
junior and senior years of high school and went to work
in food services at Appalachian State University after graduating.
In addition to working for the university, Harmon was instrumental
in starting the Watauga Rescue Squad and served as a volunteer
firefighter for the Boone Fire Department. He will soon
celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary to his wife Shirley
and has one son, Michael Timothy.
Upon his retirement, Harmon said he began to get restless.
“After I retired I went home and did everything I could
think to do. In about three weeks I sat down and said, ‘Well,
this is not going to work.’”
He saw an ad in the newspaper for school bus drivers, and
20 years later he is still driving. He recently became a
competitive bus driver this year, competing in school bus
rodeos in Asheville and Raleigh.
The most important part of being a bus driver, Harmon said,
is caring for the children who ride the bus. “I love
kids and I’m real comfortable and at ease with a bus
load of kids,” he said.
This job requires patience, a sense of humor and a good
driving record, he said, noting that bus drivers are required
to be safe motorists in their personal vehicles, as well
as on the bus.
Harmon develops relationships with the children on his bus
as well as with their parents. “It’s amazing to
see them grow up,” he said. Harmon said some of the
children he drove as kindergartners have grown up to have
children of their own.
It’s not always a fun job, but Harmon said it is the
children who make the job worth it. On difficult days, he
said, “Sometimes I wonder, ‘Why am I here?’”
The answer to that question comes when one of his young
passengers tells him goodbye as they get of the bus or stop
to give him a hug.
He knows all the names of the children who ride his bus
and knows if they have any special needs. For example, Harmon
said he makes sure to know if a child has diabetes and carries
a snack for them in case they need it during their ride
home.
Harmon said he even used to carry dog biscuits for their
dogs, until too many dogs came out to greet the bus each
day.
Participating in school bus rodeos is something Harmon said
he has always wanted to try, getting his first chance to
do so this year.
The rodeos consist of an obstacle course where the drivers
have to complete tasks without stopping or going in reverse.
Harmon said the hardest task for him was one called “offset
alley.” This section of the course requires that the
driver go through two sets of cones, one offset from the
other, without knocking any of the cones down.
He said the cones are set very close to where the bus must
pass and the task requires the utmost in precision. “Believe
it or not, I did good on that one,” he said.
Other sections require busses to parallel park and to travel
through narrow rows of tennis balls with out disturbing
the balls.
“It’s made a better driver out of me,” Harmon
said of competing in the rodeos. “It’s made me
safer and appreciate the bus more.” He said he hopes
more local drivers will become interested in the rodeos
and that eventually there will be a local competition.
As much as he loves the thrill of the rodeo, Harmon said
it all comes back to the children who ride his bus. “There’s
nothing more precious than pulling up and picking up a little
kid.”
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