LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. — Every weekday morning at Connerton Elementary, Levi White hops off his bus and starts helping all the other buses.
The 7-year-old student with special needs is a star at the Pasco County school.
They call him “The Bus Boss.”
Levi guides buses through the dropoff loop, both at the start and end of the school day. He makes sure students and drivers stay safe.
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Levi greets students with “High five! High five!” and a big “Hello!” to all the drivers.
“Initially it just started with him mimicking us,” says Scott Eaton, a behavior specialist at Connerton also in charge of the bus loop. “Then when he said he wanted to help, we were like, absolutely. We’re also looking for ways to get students involved and give them meaningful engagements.”
Levi sports a T-shirt with his catchphrase on it: “Start Your Engines!”
“It’s the highlight of my day,” says Eaton. “Starting the day with Levi in the bus loop.”
Levi isn’t quite done. After his bus work, he hops in a golf cart with “Safety Steve,” the school resource officer, to make sure all the gates around the school are locked.
When the buses drive away, he will blow them a good-luck kiss.
The bus drivers return the message in kind with a big happy beep of the horn.
