A Millarville Community School bus driver is nearly as handy with a wrench as she is holding a steering wheel.
Driver Lisa Willis was able to fix an all-terrain vehicle for Grade 8 student Reed Grusing to make sure he could travel the three-quarters of a mile down his driveway after being dropped off in the heart of cougar country.
“I always take my quad to the end of the road for when I get dropped off because we have a long driveway,” Grusing said. “One time my quad wouldn’t start. She got the quad started for me.”
It is that kind of dedication that earned Willis Bus Driver of the Year by the Student Transportation Association of Alberta earlier this month.
The Foothills School Division driver’s job is in her blood. Both her mother and father, Jeannette and Ron Arkes were bus drivers — Willis is driving her father’s route to Millarville School. Lisa’s sister, Wendy Arkes, is also a bus driver for Foothills.
Willis was nominated for the award through a letter of support from parents Deanne Swales and Shanna and Brian Dunne, all of whom were driven to school by Willis’ father when they were younger.
Willis got her bus driver’s licence 29 years ago on her mom’s advice.
“My mom told me I always needed to have a back-up in case something doesn’t work out and you need a job,” Willis said. “The day I went to take my test, I had morning sickness with my first child and I told my mom I can’t do this. She said: ‘Yes you will — we’re booked.’ Lo and behold, here I am now.”
There have been no regrets. Women raised in Millarville cattle country are used to waking at 5 a.m. to get chores done.
“The kids bring joy to the world — it’s great,” Willis said. “It just feels good to know that you have a chance to help.”
Willis helped calm the nerves of the Dunnes’ daughter Jaxon, now in Grade 6, when she went on a field trip to the big city about five years ago.
“We don’t worry about field trips — Lisa’s driving,” Shanna Dunne said. “They went to the Glenbow Museum and some parents were worried – you know, country kids going to the city – and my daughter (Jaxon) was worried. I told her don’t worry, Lisa will be there.”
Her husband, Brian, agreed.
“She doesn’t just park the kids and wait,” he said. “She goes with the kids when she can.”
Swales said it’s Willis’ nature that inspired her to nominate the bus driver.
“She is so kind and loving,” Swales said. “She treats our kids like I imagine she treats her kids. Every holiday, she brings a goodie for the kids on the bus — even my three-year-old who is waiting with me in the truck.”
While Willis receives raves reviews from moms and dads, it’s the kids on the bus that are the number one concern. They also give a huge thumb’s up for ‘Ms. Lisa.’” Grade 8 student Darian Fisher has an easy answer when asked what she likes about Willis.
“Everything. — She is really sweet,” she said.
Fisher said years ago, when her front door was jammed and her mom and dad weren’t home, Willis helped get the entrance open for her brother and her.
Of course, sometimes, a bus driver has to put her foot down, not on the gas pedal, but on the students.
Jaxon Dunne has six other relatives on the bus.
“Sometimes it gets really rowdy,” Jaxon said with a laugh. “She’ll ask us to settle down.”
Grusing said Willis talks to students in a nice way if things get out of hand, but admitted he once had to sit at the front of the bus because he was “accidently standing up a lot.”
Willis has got a country way of handling students and their parents by always lending a helping hand to those in need.
It helps that Willis has a ranching background because if there’s some cattle on the highway it’s no problem.
“When they move the cattle from one field to another and they are on the highway – I just wait or go around them,” she said with a laugh.
