Contributed

to the Telegram

Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools recently recognized three top performing bus drivers in the 2008 Road-E-O competition and presented the district's first Driver of the Year Award during its annual recognition luncheon.

Local Road-E-O competition was sponsored by Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools and the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles School Bus & Traffic Safety Section. Nash-Rocky Mount Public School System bus drivers annually compete in the North Carolina School Bus Driving competition to test their driving skills in the areas of laws and regulations, school bus pre-trip inspections and basic driving skill maneuvers. This year, 81 Nash-Rocky Mount Public School System bus drivers competed in 8 categories including railroad crossing, straight line, offset alley, diminishing clearance, back-up, right-turn, parallel parking and stop line maneuvers.

Bonnie Lanier, Hubbard Elementary School, was awarded first place with a perfect score. Second place finisher, Theresa Strickland, Red Oak Middle School bus driver, also received a perfect score. The tie was broken by the stop line competition. Lanier had a distance of fewer than 2 inches, and Strickland's score was less than 3 inches. The third place trophy went to Cecilia Tharrington, Spring Hope Elementary School.

For the first year, Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools selected a Bus Driver of the Year. Drivers were nominated by their peers. Ann Sherrod, bus driver for Southern Nash Middle School and Southern Nash High School, was awarded 2007-2008 Driver of the Year along with a plaque to commemorate her selection. A permanent plaque will hang in the Transportation Department office listing each Bus Driver of the Year award recipient.

Sherrod has been a bus driver since 1987. She was commended not only for her driving skill, but also for her caring compassion for students and colleagues.

Transportation Director Binford Sloan added, "Ann Sherrod is a professional school bus driver with a passion for transporting children. She is a driver who has always been an advocate for our students. Ann strives to be a mentor for other bus driver, assisting them anyway she can. We are very fortunate to have Ann in our school district driving a NRMPS school bus."