Back to School!

One of my favorite back-to-school activities is the bus tour that we provide for our new teachers. On the very first day, we sponsor a bus tour of West Bend so that teachers know about the agencies and businesses that support our students and families.

The other fun fact is that I get to be the official tour guide for the morning. While I don't live in West Bend, I do know where the public and private agencies are located. This includes the Full Shelf Food Pantry, Boys & Girls Club, Albrecht Free Clinic, YMCA, Family Promise Homeless Coalition, and Habitat for Humanity.

Johnson bus company not only sponsored the bus for free, they provided the bus driver. Near the end of the tour, we passed this lemonade stand. After driving past the stand, I whispered to the driver that we should stop and buy lemonade. He responded that he had the same idea, so we drove around the block and pulled up to the stand. I got off the bus and asked the kids if they had enough lemonade, to which they responded, Yes!

The kids told me that all of the proceeds from the lemonade stand were going to be donated to the Volunteer Center. When the new teachers heard that, they all asked what school the kids were attending so they could try to have them in their class.

My only challenge for the day was getting off the bus. While I always use the handrail, going up the bus steps is easier than going down them. I did tell the new teachers that I have Parkinson's within the comments about people and families have "a story" and to treat every student with compassion and advocate for their success since everyone desesrves dignity.