This week marks National School Bus Safety Week and recognition has been met with little fanfare.

Wednesday, bus drivers with the Vicksburg Warren School District came together for a luncheon and discussions to reinforce safety and how to address unruly students and passengers.

The little fanfare mentioned above, however, is not a description of Wednesday’s luncheon or any efforts by the district to recognize these bus drivers, but what we as a community have done for them. 

Each day, these drivers — community heroes in our opinion — transport our children to and from school. Some of them are also the ones who safely transported the district’s sports teams, bands, clubs and students headed out on field trips to their destinations and then back home again.

Each day, these drivers — and the monitors who join them on their routes — face our children when our children are at their best, and at their worst. And, when forced with situations that need addressing, they do so with grace and professionalism. 

We entrust these drivers with the lives of our children and we should do more to honor them, support them.

This week, take the time to thank your child’s bus driver. Thank them for what they mean to you individually, to your family and to our community as a whole.

Children mean the world to their parents. Your thanks will reinforce that bus drivers’ commitment to the safety of our children means the world to parents in our community.