16 Sep Humans of Head Start: Lyn
“I’ll just start at the beginning, I was born in Dothan, Alabama. I’m a military brat and moved all over the world. We moved here from the Canal Zone in ’74 and I’ve been here ever since. Back in the middle 70’s I was a trained secretary and I got pregnant with my 2nd child and I lost my job because I was pregnant. So I went to the unemployment office and they said ‘you might as well sit back and draw your unemployment, nobody’s gonna hire you in your condition.’ So I went to R-12 and they gave me a job. Right after I turned 23, I started driving a bus, and I did that until I was 48. Then I had an accident, a bus hit me, threw me down a ravine. I was off work 9 weeks, and went back and tried to work and I just couldn’t take the pain, it was too much. Well a friend of mine called and said ‘Lyn they have an opening at Karlin Lane, in Bolivar, for a bus driver.’ and I went ‘I’ll be right there’. I applied for the job and I got the job and it was just like my life came back. I was not able to drive for long periods of time because I still had pain. This job gave me a chance to get back in, this just gave me my heart back. I have to have purpose and OACAC Head Start has given me that.
For some of the kids, this is their first separation experience from their family. When they ride the bus for the first time, I want them to feel loved, comfortable, safe and secure. With this age group, every day is a new adventure. Just a drive across town can be an adventure! We talk about the color of cars, how many other school buses we see, types of trees and the color and types of the flowers we see. Left turn right turn. Why we are stopping when the light turns red. We talk about the people walking their dogs. Big, little, long hair, short hair. The dogs, not the people. Well, sometimes the people, too. Hopefully when we get to school, their minds are open and ready to start their day. Going home we talk about their day and listen to music. The kids call it “their music”. That way when we get to their house, they are calm and ready for family time.
I just appreciate OACAC giving me the opportunity to work at a job I enjoy. I worked for Karlin Lane for 10 years, then they moved to being an EHS and didn’t need a driver anymore. I was just ‘no, they’re gonna take my life away again’ but Kimberly and Diane very gracefully let me come up here and work for Grant. OACAC has never made me feel like a dime a dozen, they’ve always gone ‘Lyn you’re necessary, we want you, you’re important, come with us.’”
– Lyn Bell, Bus Driver
