No Child Left Behind: Hero Bus Driver Honored
It’s too often too easy to criticize Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, a bureaucratic behemoth rife with inefficiencies and bumbling failures that a multi-million dollar PR machine spins as unmitigated successes. So it’s a rare pleasure to be able to offer legitimate and deserved praise.
This week, school district officials and the Charlotte Fire Department honored bus driver Lindora Richardson, whose quick thinking and stellar professionalism helped evacuate six students from their bus before it, quite literally, burst into flames.
There’s a personal stake in this one, as two of the students riding the bus home from Chantilly Elementary were named Pellin – Olivia, 10, and Nate, 8. I got the chance yesterday to thank Lindora and was struck by her reserved humility, as she credited the children for being the real heroes for remaining calm and following directions in the midst of a life-threatening drama. I’ll beg to differ to some degree – along with my son, who told Good Morning America that his bus driver was the real hero.
It’s a label that shouldn’t be used lightly. And in this case, it most decidedly is deserved.
Kudos, and thanks, all around.
Pictured from left: CFD Capt. Jeff Matthews, students Harshitha Gopinath, Christian Moller, Lillie Moller, Tashonna Dean, Nate Pellin, Olivia Pellin, Chantilly Principal Sophia Hazlehurst, hero bus driver Lindora Richardson, CFD mascot Blaze
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