Education

Ganado bus drivers are best in state

By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi' Bureau

GANADO, Ariz., March 20, 2008

The Hornets basketball team may not have come back with a state trophy this year, but another Ganado team has ... the bus drivers of the Ganado Unified School District.

Fifteen of Ganado's best drivers competed in the annual School Bus Road-eo March 8 in Phoenix and, to their surprise, won first place. The contest is put on by the Arizona Association for Pupil Transportation.

Freddie Yazzie, a driver who placed eighth individually, said that, as far as he knows, it was the first time a reservation team has come out on top of the hard-fought competition.

You may think rez drivers would be odds-on favorites, what with all the dirt roads, long drives and erratic weather they face. But the Bus Road-eo showcases skills more pertinent to city driving, like parallel parking and proper procedure at railroad crossings, Yazzie said.

Spencer Wauneka, a 21-year veteran driver, took first place overall with a score of 730 out of 813 possible points.

Peter Yazzie, Freddie's brother, came in second with 632 points, and Freddie placed eighth with 623. Leroy Jones came in 11th and will be an alternate for the International School Bus Road-eo to be held in Calgary, Alberta, starting July 19.

The total points earned by a team's top five scorers determine the team score.

The Road-eo showcases driving prowess like weaving in and out of cones, stopping on a dime and positioning the bus's tire between two tennis balls, but mental skills come into play as well.

For instance, drivers take a 50-question written test, and must determine the problem with a deliberately sabotaged school bus during a routine pre-trip check.

The Ganado drivers practiced "even on weekends," according to Peter Yazzie, and studied their manuals. The team hosted - and won - the northern Arizona regionals held March 1 at Ganado High, then went on to take state a week later.

While winning was sweet, what was even sweeter was taking the trophy out of the hands of that cocky perennial favorite, the Marana School District.

"They win almost every year, them or Cottonwood," Freddie said. "They're like the Winslow basketball team."

The Marana drivers were, to put it mildly, not good losers.

"They were following Spencer around, almost chasing him, demanding to see his test," Peter recalled. "They were yelling things at us like, 'Take good care of that trophy, because we'll get it back next year.' But we won't let them."

Wauneka chalked the victory up to practice, but Yazzie, a staunch Mormon, believes God was on Ganado's side.

"We prayed together as a team," he said. "I think sometimes God looks down and says, 'I'm going to reward that good effort.'"

Now the guys are applying for passports and getting ready to head north for the internationals. As a state champ, Wauneka gets a paid trip, but he's opting to drive up with the rest of the team.

Driving from Ganado to Calgary may seem like the proverbial busman's holiday, but the quiet Wauneka smiled bashfully as Yazzie confessed for him, "He doesn't like to fly."

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