Credit: Pennsbury School District
The Pennsbury School District has named its 2017 Bus Driver of the Year.
Eleven-year district employee Ranal “Ray” Hardrick was awarded the honor recently by Director of Transportation Charlie Williams and the Pennsbury School Board.
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Hardrick runs Route 34 that transports students to Pennsbury High School, Pennwood Middle School and Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School. Previously, Hardrick bussed students to a variety of other schools including the Montessori Charter School, the Pennington School, William Penn Middle School and Manor Elementary School.
Hardrick was noted not only for his level of caring and compassion, Williams said the driver has perfect attendance. Something, according to the transportation director, that students may seek to emulate.
“One day when trouble erupted on Mr. Hardrick’s high school run, he didn’t passively stand by until help arrived. Putting his personal safety aside, he was quick to intervene and separate the students before the disagreement could escalate into something more serious. In doing so, Mr. Hardrick showed his resolve to maintain student safety even if it meant putting himself in harm’s way to protect the kids,” according to a passage in the superintendent’s report.
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Williams said a parent wrote an email that said: “Mr. Ray exceeds all of my expectations. He’s punctual, and more importantly, safety is his number one concern. Whether it be making sure the kids are on the sidewalk until the door opens at pick-up, or knowing who is supposed to be meeting the kids at drop-off, I have always known my children are in good, safe hands. It’s very obvious that he really cares about the kids on his bus. When my son moved on to Pennwood and found out Mr. Ray wasn’t his bus driver, he was actually disappointed. Mr. Ray is a dedicated professional, and I feel lucky to have had him driving my kids all these years.”
Hardrick, a resident of Bristol Township’s Croydon section, was greeted with applause when he was introduced at the recent school board meeting.
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He said he enjoys seeing the kids grow up and telling them they’re going to be his future doctors and president, adding it is something he truly believes about “his kids.”
“The most important part is … the reason I don’t take off is I think of them as my children.”
“I try to get them safe home and on time,” Hardrick said, explaining that being late was a pet peeve of his.
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Hardrick said he always tries to remain approachable to students and help them in whatever way he can.
“Ray treats his bus as his classroom – he makes the children feel that they are part of a community where caring about each other counts. He will advocate in the best way possible when one of his students is in need,” Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School Principal Lisa Follman said.
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Previous to starting at the Pennsbury School District, Hardrick worked at the Trentonian as a machinist for 35 years and raised two daughters as a single parent. When not on the road picking up Pennsbury students, Hardrick, a Philadelphia sports fan, spends time winding downing while fishing on charter boats or with friends off the coasts of New Jersey, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia.
