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Veteran school bus driver has brought joy to children and the community for decades

DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:

We recently asked you, our audience, to share the stories of people who brighten the day and enrich the lives of those in their communities. I think we all deserve a break from the daily news. So you wrote in, and today we want you to know about...

FIONNUALA AND CEILIDH CLIMER: Mr. Alvin.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

That is Fionnuala and Ceilidh Climer. They're 5 years old, and they're twins from Skokie, Ill.

ESTRIN: Now, Mr. Alvin is Alvin Carter. He drives their school bus and is a custodian at Elizabeth Meyer School. Fionnuala says this is how he greets them every morning.

FIONNUALA CLIMER: Hello, No. 1 princess. Hello, No. 2 princess.

ESTRIN: And she says on the days that you wear a dress...

FIONNUALA: He says, can I borrow your dress? And I say, no, and I start laughing.

CHANG: Siobahn Climer, the twins' mom, says she knew about Mr. Alvin even before she met him.

SIOBAHN CLIMER: I heard about him from our neighbors, whose kids were in middle school and high school. They're like, oh, when you go to kindergarten, you're going to get Mr. Alvin.

CHANG: Mr. Alvin has been driving the school bus for 28 years for the same school and always for the kindergarteners.

ALVIN CARTER: I love them.

ESTRIN: Mr. Alvin has eight children of his own. They're adults now, but he says the kids on his bus remind him of when they were young. Over the years, Mr. Alvin has tried to retire, and his children tell him it's time, but he says he just can't.

CARTER: I remember the faces I see in the morning. I'm like, oh, I can't do this. I got to be there.

CHANG: He has got to be there, even at lunchtime.

CARTER: I'm sitting in the lunch room with them, and it's like, I can't leave. I can't even leave to go eat lunch because we always have conversation, conversation, conversation, conversation.

CHANG: Those conversations, those relationships, everything got put on hold when school closed during the pandemic. Mr. Alvin says a few months in, he heard that kids and parents were worried about him, so he revved up the empty school bus, and he drove it around to kids' houses.

CARTER: I stop, and I honk, and I stand at the window to let them see that I'm OK. There's a little one in the bus right now that she used to stand by the window with her older brother and sister just to wave at me.

ESTRIN: In addition to taking them to and from school, Mr. Alvin hopes to motivate each student on his bus.

CARTER: Because I would like them to be successful in life. So if it starts at kindergarten, then it might continue.

ESTRIN: While he doesn't claim any credit, some of his former students are now doctors, nurses and engineers. Mr. Alvin still honks at them when he sees them and loves to run into them. But he says, sometimes it's just too much.

CARTER: Sometimes I got to try and, like, hide because I run into so many of them in Target. I'm like, oh, boy. Like, you try to hide, but they still come find you. I don't know how, but they know, oh, there's Mr. Alvin over there.

CHANG: Try as he might, he just cannot hide. And, really, you know, little stops him from chatting, as Ceilidh has witnessed.

CEILIDH CLIMER: He talks to people even if it's snowstorm or rainstorm. He is very special.

CHANG: And if you want to tell us about someone special in your community, find us on Twitter at @npratc. There's a pinned tweet right at the top.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE WHO SONG, "MAGIC BUS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Alejandra Marquez Janse
Alejandra Marquez Janse is a producer for NPR's evening news program All Things Considered. She was part of a team that traveled to Uvalde, Texas, months after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary to cover its impact on the community. She also helped script and produce NPR's first bilingual special coverage of the State of the Union – broadcast in Spanish and English.
Amy Isackson

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.