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Fayette County school employees are continuing our commitment to customer service. We call our employees who provide excellent customer service “Freds,” inspired by the book, “The Fred Factor” by Mark Sanborn about a very service-minded postman named Fred. Anyone can be a “Fred,” just by going above the call of duty in serving the public

Last school year, we spotlighted more than 100 “Freds” in Stu’s News. If you spot a Fred, please call, write, send me an email, or fill out one of our on-line submission forms.

Due to space requirements, we will post Fred Sightings as they are received. We will hold those that don’t appear this time and publish them in future editions of Stu’s News.

Freds put safety first

We would like to report two Fred sightings. There are some amazing people in the transportation department of FCPS!

The first is Shonte Sullivan, the driver on bus 474. Our sons have severe food allergies and when they rode her bus last year, we made her aware of their medical situation and explained what needed to be done if they should ever need medical attention while on her bus. Only one of our sons rides her bus this year. She has a new monitor on her bus this year, and when Ms. Sullivan didn’t receive paperwork about our son within the first few days of school, she approached us asking us about the his paperwork directly – rather than waiting for it to make its way to her. She wanted her new monitor to know immediately about our situation. She remembered all of the important details and exactly what to do if we had an allergic reaction. We were so happy to know that she remembered our son from last year, remembered his situation, and took the initiative to contact us directly, rather than risk waiting for the paperwork to come through regular channels.

Our older son now rides bus 420 and his stop is at 4080 Clearwater Way, not at an intersection. Each day the monitor, Dwight Patton, has all kids wait on the sidewalk together after exiting the bus. Then he walks out into the road, around the front of the bus, to make sure all traffic has stopped before he lets the kids cross Clearwater. We have never seen anyone do this before Mr. Patton. The children who exit the bus at this stop are not little kids; they are bigger elementary kids, who some might let cross the street on their own. However, Mr. Patton obviously cares for the safety and well being of all the kids and makes certain that it is safe for them before he lets them cross.

Both Ms. Sullivan and Mr. Patton are excellent examples of how thoughtful people can be when they try. We thank them both for their excellent customer service and concern for the kids in their care.

Submitted by Caren & Andrew Gardner,Parents

Double-duty

Mr. Wardy Mason is in charge of our Buster the Bus School Bus Safety Program. Since the beginning of this school year, along with his regular duties as a Driver Trainer, he has presented the Buster Safety Program to 8,500 elementary students in Fayette County. His efforts in contacting the schools each year and urging them to schedule a program for promoting school bus safety in our system deserve much more than a “Fred.”

Submitted by Mona Seratt, Training Records Clerk
Bus Garage

Commitment beyond the classroom

Stacey Middleton, a special education teacher at Bryan Station High School, is committed to her students far beyond what the classroom and the school demand of her. A recent example is her work with a student’s family in trying to work around some legal trouble that the student has gotten into. Several times a week the student must report to a probation officer and the father is disabled, meaning that the father and son must both go, which results in the son missing school. They must also contact the probation officer daily. Stacey has begun calling and reminding the father and even making the calls herself for the student – all of this to ensure the student’s success and prevent him from dropping out. With all of the pressure put on Stacey from other directions, she could easily let this go and mark this up as a casualty, but she sees the potential and need of this student and is going far beyond what she must do all in order to help someone else and the school.

Submitted by Brandon Abdon, Teacher
Bryan Station High

Lost and found

I want to give a big thank you to Jim Adams at Paul Laurence Dunbar and Sherese Ellison at IAKSS. I am the new bookkeeper at PLD. Over this past summer (time in which I thought I could get myself acclimated to this job), we had many obstacles to jump over. One of which was that our main office flooded due to water leaking through our roof. Needless to say, our office was a mess. Papers, books, and documents were destroyed. Drywall had to be ripped out and replaced. To make a long story short, my computer was hit twice with water causing data to be lost. Even with back-ups ... some data was still lost. But thanks to Jim Adams, our tech guy, who went back over and over and through and through, he was able to restore most of it. And thanks to Sherese, she was able to help me get everything entered back again, as this had to be done twice ... without these two “FREDS,” I would not have made it. Thanks again Jim and Sherese for going the extra mile to help out a fellow co-worker. You both are the best!

Submitted by Diana Rolph, Account Specialist
Paul Laurence Dunbar High

The “Rock” that rolls with the punches

Ellen Fore is “The Rock” at our school. Whenever anyone needs anything at Dunbar High School, Ellen always drops whatever she is doing to help out our staff and our students. Ellen greets everyone with a smile and a kind heart every day. If she does not have an answer to your question, she will find someone who does. I have been a teacher at Dunbar since it opened, and Ellen has solved so many of my problems and questions, that I cannot list them. She has found me substitutes, solved insurance problems, coaching issues, paperwork for IAKSS, and more. Ellen deserves to be a FRED!!!

Submitted by Donna Martin, Teacher
Paul Laurence Dunbar High

After school help

Mrs. Sonia Fullwood at Bryan Station Middle School goes beyond and above her duties as an educator. She is kind, caring, and genuinely interested in all of her students. She always has her door, as well as her heart, open to help in every way. My daughter is a freshman at Bryan Station High School this year and Mrs. Fullwood is helping her in algebra after school on her time. How awesome to see a teacher care about our children that much! She definitely deserves recognition!

Submitted by Sherry Phillips, Parent