Time is of the essence when driving students to school
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Iqaluit (Nov 20/00) - At 7:45 a.m. on a Monday morning, Scotty Henderson climbs into his yellow school bus and tunes the radio.
He guides the lumbering bus onto the road and heads to Apex for his first pick up of the morning -- middle and high school students.
"In the morning the kids are pretty quiet because they're still asleep," said Henderson, who has been driving the bus for ten years.
"At lunch and after school they get a little rowdier and I have to keep a closer eye on them."
Precisely ten minutes later he pulls up to an orderly line of students who file onto the bus.
A few latecomers jog to the waiting bus with its red flashing lights. Somebody's yellow dog sees everyone off.
Chugging back up the hill to Iqaluit, Henderson recalls a mishap with the bus and a soft road shoulder four years ago.
"I went off the road in Tundra Valley with kids on board," he said.
"The shoulder was snowy and soft and it just pulled me in. No one was hurt, but I felt terrible about it."
At 8:05 a.m., Henderson makes a wide, calculated turn to get the long bus up and around the corner of the high school's laneway.
As students disembark, the middle schoolers stick to the back seats. Three stops in Tundra Valley are next.
"I've never used fifth gear in this bus," says Henderson, who has his hand on the long, skinny gear shift.
"And we never really have any problems with the (buses). We have good, experienced drivers who get the kids home safely."
It takes four buses to transport students to all four schools on time. When Henderson first started, three buses did the trick.
At 8:15 a.m. he meets another bus dropping students off at the middle school. As the long-arm lever opens the bus' two-panel door, the red lights are automatically engaged.
The next pick up is elementary students destined for Nakasuk. Traffic is heavier and Henderson keeps a keen eye on the road.
At stop number one, little kids clamber aboard bundled beneath layers of winter clothes.
"The bus sits 72 with a full load," he says.
"Usually I have about 42 kids and they sit two to a seat -- they always want to sit with their friends."
At 8:35 a.m. he pulls up behind another bus dropping kids off behind Nakasuk and in front of a busy playground.
Together the two buses pull out and head back to the shop, their morning routes complete. Henderson hits the road again at lunch and after school, depositing his precious cargo at their respective stops.
