There’s a lot more to school bus driving then picking up and dropping off children, and recently several bus drivers for Lake Orion Schools proved it—rodeo style.
Drivers Tammy Brown, Mary Cottrill, Mike Gatlin and Yvonne Brown recently took home the team trophy, as well as each placing individually, in the annual Bus Rodeo competition for Oakland County, held at West Bloomfield High School on May 15.
Tammy, a driver for 15 years, placed first in the competition, and Cottrill, driving for six years, brought home second place. Yvonne, a driver for almost five years, took eighth, while Gatlin, driving for six years, took 18th.
The rodeo tests driving skills by way of an obstacle course, railroad crossings and ‘offset alley,? a serious of turns through cones, as well as a written test with 25 questions.
‘They also do a pre-trip inspection, and there are five things wrong with the bus and you have to find them,? Tammy said.
Tammy and Cottrill will move on to the state competition, being held at Valley Plaza Resort in Midland on June 22, and then possibly on to the national competition depending how they do. Last year both were at the state competition, where Cottrill placed third and got Rookie of the Year.
‘Drivers volunteer to go (to the rodeo) and we also took a few of our drivers that were judges,? Yvonne said.
The team trained for two weeks before the competition.
‘We couldn’t have done it without Joyce Butterfield, she’s our mentor,? said Tammy.
School bus driving runs in the family for Tammy, as her mother and grandmother were both drivers. Cottrill is her cousin.
‘I can be home with my kids when I want,? she said.
Gatlin said a friend got him started, after the factory he worked at for 20 years closed. Yvonne, a mother of five, said bus driving is a good fit for her.
‘It was convenient for me,? she said.
Tammy said she enjoys the day-to-day challenge of the job.
‘You never know what obstacles will come up,? she said.
‘There’s never a dull moment,? agreed Gatlin.
Yvonne likes that each day brings something different.
‘Tomorrow’s not like today, and today’s not like tomorrow,? she said.