By Katherine Gittman
CP Reporter
Doris Taylor of Ladysmith is one of the few retirees from Caroline County Public Schools’ Transportation Department this year after many years of service to the county. After serving as a bus driver for Caroline County Public Schools for the past 42 years, Taylor is looking forward to retirement.
Throughout her career, Taylor has taken on different routes and grade levels. For a majority of her time as a bus driver, she has driven mainly elementary-aged students home located on the western/Ladysmith side of the county. She has had different routes all over the county but has mainly been assigned the western side of the county. Around three to four years ago, she then started taking middle and high-school aged students home from school.
Besides being a bus driver, Taylor held a position at a local bank before being a bus driver throughout the rest of her career. There were many different aspects of her job that she enjoyed that include her love for driving, the students and parents she has met, and the trips that she has had the opportunity to go on. “I love to drive the bus. I love to drive and when I got my new bus I really did like to drive it. I hated giving up my new bus, I really do,” Taylor shares with a laugh.
She also shares how she really enjoyed meeting the students who rode on her bus and the parents. “You have some good kids on [the bus] and met some good parents and it was nice to get to their stop and meet them,” she shares.
Emily Horne, a parent of one of Taylor’s students shares a fond memory about Mrs. Taylor. “Doris was Abby’s bus driver when she was a pre-k student at Lewis and Clark. She helped Abby with some separation anxiety and riding the big kid bus. She kept everything organized and under control, but always had a hug and a dose of encouragement for a nervous little girl. She continues to say hello and visit with Abby when we see her around Ladysmith,” shares Horne.
Fieldtrips were also another favorite part of her job. She shares, “I like the field trips too…that was probably my favorite part of it all.” When talking about the fieldtrips she got to go on with the students, she mentions how she enjoyed getting to meet different students and parents that she ordinarily didn’t get to meet on her regular route.
When it came to working in Caroline, Taylor shares how she enjoyed working near home and being in the county. She liked having a close job, meeting the other bus drivers and enjoyed having a break in-between the school hours during the week.
Doris Taylor is a longtime resident of Caroline County and has lived in the county throughout her entire life. She has also been a member of Wright’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Ladysmith throughout her life as well. Upon her retirement, Taylor still will continue to work a part time job at Kings Dominion.
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