School bus driver Dena Bennett cruises into retirement as employee of the year.
Nassau County Schools Trans-portation Department Director Brad Underhill announced the designation Dec. 13.
The 36-year bus driver received a certificate and a trophy naming her the department’s 2017-18 Employee of the Year. Her peers nominated her.
“I feel honored, but I don’t feel like I do any more than anyone else,” Bennett said. Underhill said that her coworkers look up to her.
“She’s been here the longest,” he said. “Everybody calls her queen. She’s always got a positive attitude. She’s always willing to help people and she’s very humble. She loves her job and it shows.”
Bennett never expected to have a long career as a bus driver.
“To tell you the truth, 30 years ago if you told me I was going to be I bus driver, I would tell you, you were crazy,” she said.
She has transported three generations via bus numbers 210, 245, 326, 228, 367 and 356. She now drives Bus No. 444.
“I started as a substitute in 1981,” Bennett recalled. “(It’s a) small town. My children were in school. There weren’t a lot of job opportunities in a small town. I wanted to be on the same schedule as my kids.”
To celebrate her upcoming retirement, she and dozens of coworkers will take a cruise to the Bahamas in March.
Penny Williams said Bennett deserves the trip.
“I asked Dena what she wanted to do for her retirement and she thought it was great,” Williams said. “She was all for it. She said she’d rather do that than have a party. She didn’t want to bring attention to herself. We’re going to take her on a cruise and give her lots of attention.”
The gesture initially caught Bennett off guard.
“You see each other in a work atmosphere, but you want to bond with them,” she said. “I was so surprised about that. It’s just going be another bonding time for sure.”
Bennett is the founding member of Hilliard Helping Hands, which began in 2010. Fellow bus drivers perform outreach projects to assist area residents. Outreach projects have included Dayspring Village, Barnabas and Life Care Center of Hilliard. Bennett often encourages her coworkers and keeps them on track with happenings within the department.
She enjoys the camaraderie with the children she chauffeurs.
“We’re like moms on wheels,” Bennett said. “If they cry, you have to find out why they’re crying, fix their boo-boos and wipe their noses.”
Her driving career comes full circle with the addition of daughter Amber. She’s been a bus driver for three years. Mom Jeanne Craven and sister Janene Harris worked as bus aides for many years.
“It’s all in the family,” Bennett said, adding that she will miss her job when she retires in July. “I’m having a hard time with this.”