By: Raelynn Ward
Have you ever wondered what bus drivers’ lives are like outside of picking and dropping students off? Here is a little bit of behind-the-scenes for Amber Tabler, who drives a bus for Federal Hocking Local Schools.
Tabler grew up in Marietta, Ohio. It was a bigger city than what she is used to now and there was a lot more to do than where she lives now.
Tabler has been a bus driver for nine years and she wanted to become a bus driver because the job position became available and it allows her to spend more time with her daughter Rorie Tabler, who is a senior at Federal Hocking.
Before Tabler became a bus driver she worked at Memorial Health Hospital in Athens Ohio as a Phlebotomist for ten years.
The hardest part of Tabler’s route is the unexpected changes that comes at random times she stated
“You never know what comes your way.”
Some challenges she faces that most people don’t realize or even think about is the public, unpredictable weather and daily tasks in general.
“Everything is different every day.”
Student behavior can be challenging at times and Tabler expressed how stressful difficult situations can get. Bus drivers have a system for how to handle student behavior on the bus. The first approach is to talk to the student, and the next step involves taking it to the principal and parent contact.
A lesson Tabler has learned from her years of work is patience. Something she still wants to achieve is to just enjoy her family and watch her daughter grow up and go to college.
When Tabler is not driving the bus she likes to watch her daughter play basketball and hangout with family members. Working with students has made her realize how grateful she is for the things she has in her life.
Seventh grader Weston Guess has been riding Tabler’s bus since preschool.
“Tabler is not a strict bus driver but she isn’t lenient with the students either. She is a very good bus driver and my favorite memory is giving her nobake cookies whenever I got on her bus. When I was younger, we used to have a lot of conversations when I got on the bus.”
