Feel good thread...

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
121,759
I bet I could show that adorable video to a hundred people and not get this kind of reaction.
 

jsmith6919

Honored Member - RIP
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
28,407
 

jsmith6919

Honored Member - RIP
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
28,407
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,732
 

jsmith6919

Honored Member - RIP
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
28,407
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,732
His Christmas kindness went viral, but here is Richardson ISD bus driver’s real gift to kids

Written by

Sharon Grigsby, Metro columnist
Months after school bus driver Curtis Jenkins became an internet sensation for playing Santa to every child on his Richardson ISD route, this humble man’s steadying daily presence in their lives continues to be the far greater gift.


Jenkins’ generosity went viral just before Christmas when Lake Highlands Elementary posted to Facebook a photo of the front of Bus 1693 piled high with more than 70 brightly wrapped gifts. Jenkins not only had bought each of his young charges a present, he made his selections from the kids’ wish lists.

The Facebook post was quickly shared more than 13,500 times, and media outlets in more than 20 countries picked up the story. ABC News and Huffington Post wrote about Jenkins. And about 100 or so cards — from Kansas, Africa, California and Australia — arrived at the Lake Highlands campus, all of them expressing thanks to Jenkins. Some even offered financial help.

“Mr. Jenkins didn’t want any money. He didn’t really even want the press. He just wanted to show his love for the kids,” PTA President Jennifer Wilcox told me this week.

The simple-spoken Jenkins says he just hopes that when these kids look back on their early school days, they will say, “Remember that bus driver — he put a lot into us.”

Lake Highlands Elementary is known within RISD for exuding big-hearted generosity, but even here, Jenkins’ quiet passion for doing good deeds and teaching life lessons stands out. Kids can’t escape some amount of education before they arrive at school each day, Jenkins told me. “I want to give them the right kind.

In his seventh year driving Richardson ISD routes, the 46-year-old ferries students to and from three schools — the elementary, Richardson West Junior High and J.J. Pearce High School — as well as handling some special-needs bus duties.

Jenkins has a heart for all the students, but he has a special soft spot for the elementary-age children.

Jenkins and the Lake Highlands Elementary students have created their own virtual neighborhood on the bus. The children hold down various leadership jobs such as cleanup detail, safety officer and president. Each “working” student gets five “bus bucks” weekly, redeemable for school supplies that Jenkins purchases mostly out of his own pocket.

He’s recently added a new wrinkle to this economics lesson: Jenkins takes back one bus buck from each student to cover the “cost” of those who choose not to work. “You go to those people who aren’t working and recruit them to help, then you’ll all win,” he tells the students.

Jenkins believes his most important work is the short talk he gives from the front of the bus each morning before the students pile out to begin their school day. The deeply devout Jenkins takes on a preacher’s oratory voice as he recalled some of those: Walk with a purpose until you walk into your purpose. Everybody deserves a chance. No matter the odds, don’t ever count anyone out - including yourself.

Lake Highlands Elementary principal Emily Gruninger told me — through a giant smile — about a conversation just last week with a parent who reported that her child is excited to get up and come to school because he knows Jenkins will be there to greet him each morning at the bus stop.

She said that while Jenkins’ activities are hardly part of a bus driver’s job description, his deep investment in the students on his bus sets each up for better success at school. Informally, he is playing a role in the social-emotional learning environment — soft skills, but critical ones, such as problem-solving and collaboration — nurtured by the Lake Highlands campus and its involved parents.

“We want every child to have an adult they can count on, and the more adults the better,” Gruninger said. “Having Curtis there to start the day and end the day for these kids — with all the people in the rest of the day — he is part of the puzzle helping kids grow and succeed.”

Wilcox, the PTA president, says Jenkins is a beautiful example of what she sees inside the school every day: “A spirit of acceptance and love amid a great diversity of children and talents.”

Led by the PTA, the school is planning a special award for Jenkins in the next few weeks.

While the giant spread of Christmas gifts last December may be the most eye-catching of his work, Jenkins and his wife, Shaneqia, try to make every holiday special. For example, the young students receive birthday cards and the couple buys turkeys for overburdened families at Thanksgiving. This week they were busy putting together Easter bags for the kids.

Jenkins, who hopes to eventually create a nonprofit that provides after-school options for children, says he has plenty of reasons for the inspiration underneath his good works.

After spending his early childhood in Louisiana, his family moved to Pleasant Grove and he attended Spruce High School. “It was rough back then at Spruce. I came from the country and I wasn’t ready for all that black on black violence,” he told me.

Life was so treacherous — and so many of his friends were dying — that he didn’t expect to see his 25th birthday. But with a strong faith in God — and his mother’s firm hand on Curtis — Jenkins eventually earned the necessary credentials to do electrical, HVAC and plumbing work.

He and Shaneqia, whom he met in eighth grade, now live in Garland and are the parents of three daughters in their 20s. He’s most proud of his daughters’ work ethic. “I taught all of them to be worker bees and they work hard.”

Jenkins signed on to drive a school bus because his mother became ill and he needed more flexibility. His assessment of his life’s path is simple and spiritual: “I’m always walking in the light of whatever God has asked me to do.”

Jenkins doesn’t much care for terms like “fame” or “hero” when it comes to his work with students. Yes, he knows that a lot of recognition has come his way this school year, but he says that’s something to be shared with the children, along with the school teachers and staff.

“There is no I on my bus, only we. We did this all together,” he said.

But he would like to see more adults step up to be advocates. “We need these kids to know they have potential — they are like little apprentices. One day they will be the leaders when we aren’t around.” [HR][/HR]
Man crush.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,732
 
Top Bottom