Mount Pleasant school bus driver honored after 25 years of service
MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. (KDKA) - Driving a school bus can be a monotonous job while shuttling students to and from school day after day.
However, student safety is paramount in the Mount Pleasant Area School District, and student joy during the process means just as much to the school bus driver, Denise Fontanazza.
She has driven a bus for 50 students every day for the past 25 years, and now, today's her day to be recognized, with a surprise at Norvelt Elementary School. Parents, students, staff, and everyone else surprised her with smiles, hugs, a gift basket, and a special certificate from the school district.
Fontanazza has a system for spreading joy and getting kids to behave.
"If they're good, they get a stick when they get off the bus. If they're bad, they don't get one, so that way, the parents know they've been misbehaving," said Fontanazza.
When kids get five sticks, they give them back to her, and they get a prize she buys with her hard-earned money.
Now, parents and the school are showing her going above and beyond every day is appreciated.
"She works, and for every penny she makes driving the bus, she gives back to the kids," parent Andy Sebek said.
"She's been doing this for a very long time, and boy, I think it's just great to get on the bus in the morning and have someone greet you with a smile," added parent and Mount Pleasant Area School District Transportation Committee Head, Eric Poole.
"The kids love it. The kids are looking forward to it, you know getting on and off the bus every day. They get on with a smile, they get off with a smile. It's fantastic," Sebek said.
Fontanazza said she feels "very surprised and much appreciated," and takes the job to heart.
"I do, I love them all. They're all good. All different ways."
It's doing the everyday job in an extraordinary way that's making the biggest difference in the community.