TRANSPORTATION: The students at Jacob’s Ladder climb into a new 25-passenger bus.

 

The search is over: Thursday at noon the students at Jacob’s Ladder, along with faculty, family and friends, welcomed their new 2012 Startrans Senator, a 25-passenger bus.

Jacob’s Ladder teacher Rebecca Busby said the bus will soon be put to use for the school’s summer program. “We plan to take the students to Lake Claiborne as part of our summer program,” she said. “One of our students, his family has a place out at Lake Claiborne, and they invited us to come out.”

The new bus will allow the number of students at Jacob’s Ladder to possibly grow, Busby said. The new bus seats 10 more students then the school’s old bus.

Busby said the students are over-the-moon excited about the new bus.

“We are going to be able to ride together everywhere we go and not have to take separate vehicles for all of our kids to fit,” she said. “All of our students will be able to ride together as a group and as a school when we take field trips.”

Busby said Jacob’s Ladder’s newest board member, Edward Herring, was instrumental in getting the new bus.

“He is involved with Jacob’s Ladder through Special Olympics,” she said. “He was integral in getting us new appliances last fall. Once we saw the kind of go-getter that he is, we thought he would be a perfect fit for out board.”

Soon after, board president Kathy Conway approached Herring about taking over the search for the bus, to which he readily agreed, Busby said.

Herring said they searched for the perfect vehicle for about three months.

“I went and looked at some of them,” he said. “We couldn’t pull the trigger without putting our eyes on them.”

Herring said he found the perfect bus and made sure it fit the needs of the school.

“We brought one over to make sure it was what they needed and fit the needs, and from there we moved forward,” he said.

The bus was actually delivered Wednesday, but to make sure the bus would be on time to its unveiling, they planned to present it Thursday, Herring said.

“They spent all evening yesterday cleaning the inside,” he said. “I had a mobile detail shop meet us over here in the parking lot at Mutual, and they detailed the outside, and it just all came together.”

Herring started working with Jacob’s Ladder when Sandy Hearn asked him to be the male coach for Jacob’s Ladder’s Special Olympics team.

“We went to state games there in Hattiesburg with them, and the rest is history,” he said. “I met Rebecca and Mandy and the kids here at Jacob’s Ladder, and it was just a connection.”

Herring and Busby said they really want to thank the community for helping make this possible.

“Thank you, thank you to everyone that has helped or participated to make this happen for these children,” Herring said.