SCHOOLS
Alexandria Recorder
July 23, 2009
ACHIEVEMENTS
Editor Michelle Shaw | smhaw@nky.com | 578-1053
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Your Community Recorder newspaper serving the communities of southern Campbell County
N K Y. c o m
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RECORDER
Bus driver sings the extra mile Maschinot wins ‘Above and Beyond’ award
By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
Bus driver Donna Maschinot’s encourages the students on her route to sing aloud and share their stories and feelings on their school commute. That’s part of why Maschinot, of Alexandria, who drives a bus full of special needs students to and from school for Campbell County Schools, won the “Above and Beyond” from the Shure-Lok Co. at an annual bus driver and trainer conference in Louisville July 10. Maschinot constantly promotes communication on her bus and maintains a positive atmosphere, said Pat Trimble, who nominated Maschinot for the award. Trimble is the driver trainer and commercial drivers license examiner for Campbell County Schools. Maschinot is always smiling, and has a positive attitude, and she treats everyone on the bus like family, Trimble said. “Donna, she celebrates birth-
CHRIS MAYHEW/STAFF
Craig Jerrell a representative of Shure-Lok Co., presents Donna Maschinot of Alexandria, a bus driver for Campbell County Schools, with the company’s annual “Above and Beyond” award for Kentucky bus drivers at the Galt House Hotel & Suites in Louisville Friday, July 10. days,” Trimble said. “They sing happy birthdays on the bus when its a birthday.” When Maschinot comes to work she always says good morn-
ing and asks how you are, and actually takes the time to listen to see how you really are, she said. “She’s always on time, she’s always at work, and she’s always
thinking about those children,” Trimble said of Maschinot. Maschinot has been a bus driver for the district for 31 years. Before taking over a special needs bus route two years ago with fewer than 20 children on the bus, she had driven a standard 78-passenger bus. The award was a surprise for Maschinot, who was asked to attend a conference in Louisville with her husband Gary Maschinot, who is also a bus driver now after retiring from and closing Maschinot Music in Southgate in 2008. “When they called my name out for the award, they could have knocked me over with a feather I was so shocked,” she said. Maschinot she couldn’t have won the award with out Betty Boesch, the special needs monitor who interacts with the children while she keeps her eyes focused on the road. “The sad part of me getting an award is that she also didn’t get an award,” Maschinot said. Boesch entertains them, listens
to them, and she comforts them when they have a bad day. “We make them feel special, and they make us feel special,” Maschinot said. Maschinot said she does help lead the singing. Children often ask for requests including one boy who always asks to sing the song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” she said. “If I don’t know the words, I just make them up as they go along,” Maschinot said. “And they say, ‘Hey that’s not it,’ and I say, ‘That’s my version of it.’” Maschinot has been eligible for retirement for two years, but said she’s having too much fun to retire yet. “They bring a lot of joy into our lives,” she said of the students. “I didn’t know that I would love it as much as I love it.” It’s a family, and former students on the bus are never forgotten, Maschinot said. “I certainly didn’t feel like I stood out in any special way, but I thought well maybe I do make a difference,” she said.
Money halts school’s extra 10 minutes By Chris Mayhew cmayhew@nky.com
Campbell Ridge Elementary School’s request for an extra 10 minutes in the school day has been denied by the Campbell County Schools Board of Education. The issue came down to who would pay for $4,000 in overtime for bus drivers. The school wasn’t willing to and neither was the Board of Education. Board member Janis Winbigler questioned Campbell Ridge Principal Anthony Mazzei if the school would probably be willing to pay the estimated $4,000 in overtime for extra hours for some bus drivers over the course year if the extra 10-minute plan was approved. “What you’re asking this district to do is fund this extra 10 minutes,” Winbigler said. Mazzei said he would rather keep the $4,000 so that the school won’t have to cut into the number of tutors it uses. Campbell Ridge’s School Based Decision Making Council had tentatively approved the plan to move dismissal time for students from 3:15 p.m. to 3:25 p.m. pending the school board’s decision. The school wanted the extra time to shorten the length of time students are dismissed to their
buses at the end of each day, and also to make it easier to schedule professional development time with teachers without using substitute teachers. Although some buses come earlier, as many as six students end up sitting in each classroom at 3:30 p.m. waiting for their bus, Mazzei said. Currently there are about four waves of buses, and while a few buses come early, many buses don’t come until 3:25 p.m. or 3:30 p.m., and the last bus sometimes doesn’t come until 3:40 p.m. “Bus dismissal won’t be more efficient, but we could stick with what we’ve been doing these last four years,” he said. And the school can get most of what it is seeking to accomplish within professional development without the extra 10 minutes, Mazzei said. In voting to deny the request, board member Rich Mason said he applauded the school for trying to come up out of the box solutions. But Mason said if the school wasn’t willing to cover the costs the extra 10 minutes would incur, then he didn’t know why the board should pay. “I guess that if the council doesn’t think it was a good use of money, then I recommend not doing it,” said Superintendent Anthony Strong.
Celebrating family
PROVIDED.
Caught blue-handed
PROVIDED.
The students at St. Joseph in Camp Springs honored their parents by creating a family plaque. They photographed pictures of the alphabet and made them into words that represented their families. Pictured in the back row, from left are: Alex Enzweiler, Hunter Young, and Isaiah Meyer. In front, from left are: Hope Floyd, Noah Floyd, and Preston Hollingsworth.
SCHOOL NOTES Golf outing
The NewCath Golf Outing sponsored by the Boosters Organization will be held Friday, Aug. 7 at Hickory Sticks featuring tee times, and a scramble format. The outing includes drinks, lunch at the course,dinner and raffles also at the course. The cost is $300 per foursome with a minimum $150 deposit required by Aug. 1 to hold tee time. Make check payable to: New-
port Central Catholic Boosters (Note: Golf Outing) and return to Boosters, c/o Newport Central Catholic, 13 Carothers Road, Newport, KY 41071. Hole Sponsors are also available for $25, $50 & $100. Please contact Anita Giesler at 859-7817473. Questions concerning the outing should be directed to Mark Camm at 859-371-3875. All funds from the outing will benefit NCC sports organizations.
Main Street Christian Education Center’s summer camp children have created “The Green Team” to help pick up trash and clean up the environment and are wearing blue gloves to stay sanitary. From left in the back row are teacher Jennifer McCrann, and children Trey Finkenstead (kneeling), Logan Wiedemann, Mackenzie Hammon, Emily Finkenstead, Ashley Leicht, Michael Leicht. From left in the front row are Morgan Revell, Anya Deaton, Lydia Deaton, Kendall Wiedemann, Thomas Sayers, and Faith Alford is sitting in front.