Foothills bus driver publishes tales from behind the wheel

A Foothills bus driver has penned a collection of anecdotes about life from behind the wheel.

Brenda Merkley has been driving a school bus for eight years with Foothills School Division, taking children to Heritage Heights School. She was inspired to take the position by her friend Arlene, who has been driving for more than two decades and a mission trip to Nicaragua.

When she was telling tales of the sights, sounds and stories on the school bus at a Bible study group, her friends convinced her to write them down.

“So I started, and just started writing and writing, and then it was like – there’s no end to this,” said Merkley. “Then I wanted to explain how I came to be a bus driver.”

That’s when The Wheels on the Bus was born. The book is a collection of anecdotes from driving the same school bus route for eight years, peppered with stories from three Nicaragua missions.

Becoming a bus driver was never a thought in Merkley’s mind until after her first mission trip in 2013, when she returned to her cooking job at Tudor Manor and decided it was becoming too physically demanding.

Having worked with children in Nicaragua and knowing her friend enjoyed the work, Merkley decided to apply, was trained, and soon started running her country route.

It’s made a difference in how she perceived and enjoys children.

“I didn’t like children. I do now – but I didn’t have relationships with children,” she said. “Nicaragua was an eye-opener. And I love it – I absolutely love my job today.”

Having the same route for so many years has allowed her to develop real connections with the kids and their families. It provides an opportunity to know them as though they’re your own children, she said.

That’s part of the reason she enjoys telling their stories.

“My kids are the best in the fleet, as far as I’m concerned,” said Merkley. “You can’t help but develop a relationship when you see them on a regular basis and you see their different moods.”

Some of her regular riders have been boarding the bus since kindergarten and are now finishing Grade 8, she said. Merkley hopes to drive the route a few more years, to see those children complete high school.

She compared being a school bus driver to being a grandparent – being able to connect with children and enjoy their growth and development with a more relaxed perspective than the active parent.

“I get to see the change in them through totally different eyes than when I was raising my own child,” said Merkley.

One entire chapter of The Wheel on the Bus is devoted to the questions she is asked on a regular basis, like why she has a seatbelt, a hammer, or a fire extinguisher.

“They’re just so funny,” said Merkley.

The book also delves into some of the powerful and life-changing moments she experienced while working in Nicaragua. Merkley went to Bluefields in 2013, Managua in 2015 and back to Bluefields in 2016.

She spent time working on improvements to a school and a church, but the most moving experience was helping to run the Samaritan’s Purse eyeglass clinic.

“It was incredible,” said Merkley. “They don’t have the equipment like you have here when you go to the eye doctor. It’s very primitive.”

They saw 650 people in eight days, and those who needed appointments sat outside the clinic from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day waiting for their turn in the exam room, she said. About 450 people were outfitted with glasses.

One 83-year-old women was particularly moving.

“She was crying when we outfitted her and said, ‘Now I can read my Bible,’” said Merkley. “I spent two weeks crying. It was draining in a lot of ways.”

The Wheels on the Bus can be found at Amazon, and will be available at Chapters Indigo and Barnes & Noble. It’s cover price is $16, or $9.99 on Kindle.