Do you know someone in our Transportation Department who has gone above and beyond in their role? Perhaps it's your bus driver? Maybe it's one of our driver trainers or mechanics? Maybe it's a member of the Transportation admin team at Central Operations?
This is your opportunity to recognize someone for a job well done. Each year, the Peace River School Division awards one of our transportation staff members with the Transportation Award of Excellence. This award recognizes an employee who consistently goes above and beyond in their role.
Nominations are now closed for 2024.
2024 Award Recipient: Teresa Hovelkamp
Teresa Hovelkamp is the 2024 recipient of the Peace River School Division Transportation Award of Excellence.
This annual award is unique to the PRSD and celebrates the dedication and commitment of transportation staff. Eligible employees include bus drivers, mechanics, and central operations transportation staff.
About Teresa
Teresa drives route 92 in Fairview and can almost always be seen wearing a smile. A mainstay in the Division, Teresa has been a PRSD employee since November, 2004.
According to the nominations, she is described as a great coworker who is very dependable. Teresa was also praised for having pride in her bus and always finding a way to be helpful.
“She takes considerable care of the kids on her bus. Once she saw a bear with cubs near our property and she drove my daughter right up to the house door to make sure she was safe, and called me to make sure I knew,” wrote one of Teresa’s nominators.
Annual Start Up Event
Teresa was presented with the award on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 during the Bus Driver Start-Up event held at Central Operations in Grimshaw. Superintendent Adam Murray and Transportation Manager Merlin Lee presented Teresa with the award. Congratulations Teresa on being the 2024 recipient of the Transportation Award of Excellence!
This year, the Division received an unprecedented 59 nominations for the award. Each of the nominees were recognized during Bus Driver Start-Up events held on August 19, 20, 21 and 22.
2024 Spare Driver Award of Excellence: Peter Gunning
Peter Gunning is the inaugural winner of the PRSD Spare Driver Award of Excellence as nominated by his coworkers and other members of the transportation department.
The Peace River School Division values tremendously the willingness and availability of our spare bus drivers. These people are Class 2S drivers who, sometimes with very short notice, step in for our regular drivers to ensure students arrive safely to and from school. Without spare drivers, there would be more interruptions in transportation service, meaning many students would not have reliable transportation back and forth from their school buildings.
About Peter
Peter has been employed by the PRSD since 2013, becoming a spare driver in January, 2017. He currently provides relief for our regular drivers in the communities of Peace River and Nampa. In gathering information for this award, the PRSD Transportation Department asked for feedback from the regular drivers. Some of the feedback they received regarding Peter included:
- Peter goes above and beyond to help everyone.
- Peter is an amazing bus driver, my students get excited when I let them know he will be driving for me.
- Peter demonstrates a sense of pride and respect for the learning by always having a smile, he always has a positive attitude.
Annual Start-Up Event
Peter was presented with his award during the Spare Bus Driver Start-Up event held on August 26 at Central Operations in Grimshaw. Superintendent Adam Murray and Transportation Manager Merlin Lee presented Peter with the award.
Congratulations Peter on being the 2024 recipient of the Peace River School Division Spare Driver Award of Excellence.