The Importance of Bus Rides

Yesterday we had a momentary mess in the circle parking lot. Two buses we were expecting were over 30 minutes late and arrived at the same time as the bus from Latin with their soccer team. So we had three school buses in the circle lot at the same time which we try to avoid. As well Middle School parents were beginning to show up to pick up their children from practice and faculty were leaving for the day. The lead bus driver with our Volleyball team also got nervous going by the tight area by the music center and stopped, backing all traffic up for about 10 minutes. 

What are you going to do in that situation - smile, laugh, and start directing traffic -- which I did. It made me think of the importance of school bus rides and the story I tell illustrating that.

When I arrived at North Shore Country Day in 1994, I was assigned to coach JV Boys Basketball. Needing someone to help keep the scorebook on road games, I asked my wife Kathy to come along. She began to find the bus trips a great way to give extra help to boys on the team who were struggling in her English class. I remember one particular moment on the way to Morgan Park Academy, stuck on the Kennedy, but looking back to see Kathy holding class at the back of the bus with Sean Butler, John Whittlesey, Andrew Sigismund, and Scott Weitzman among others listening and debating something about a paper topic. I often site that moment to those who want to know about difference makers at independent schools. Kathy was pregnant with our elder son John the next year when basketball began, and she has not been on sports trip since. But those boys in part because of the relationship they formed with their English teacher on those bus trips along with their classmates asked Kathy to give their graduation speech in June 1996, and we still hear from many in that class today. The bus ride was important for those boys to learn more about Kathy and for Kathy to learn more about them. 

Bus rides can be a pain especially when the bus is late and you don't always get lucky and have an English teacher give extra help on the basketball bus. But lots of other things happen on team bus rides that help form relationships that last a lifetime.  Don't under estimate the power of the bus ride.