Mt. Pleasant School District honors bus driver Denise Fontanazza for decades of service

As Denise Fontanazza followed her familiar school bus route around Mt. Pleasant Township Tuesday morning, she wondered why so many students were missing from their stops.

She found out why when she pulled bus No. 15 up to Norvelt Elementary.

Fontanazza was honored Tuesday by district officials for a rewards program she created for her young charges, and many of her regular bus riders — and a few parents — were there to greet her in a surprise event. Parents and officials said she uses her own time and money for the program, which has enamored her with students.

For kindergarteners and first graders, riding a school bus can be a bit daunting, said parent Andy Sebek.

“They’re terrified to get on the bus usually, but they love it because they’re excited to see Denise,” he said. “When there’s a substitute bus driver, they’re kind of disappointed she’s not there. She’s terrific, she really is.”

The rewards program operates like this: if a student behaves on their bus ride, they get a wooden stick that says “caught being good!” on one side and “collect 5 win a prize” on the other. The students — about 50 of them in the afternoons — take it seriously. Several of them clutched handfuls of sticks Tuesday morning while waiting for Fontanazza to arrive.

“If they’re good, they get a stick when they get off the bus,” she said. “If they’re bad, they don’t get one, so then that way the parents know that they’ve been misbehaving. And when they get five they give it to me and then that afternoon I give them something when they get off the bus, a prize.”

Those prizes typically contain candy, fruit snacks or chips, said Sebek, whose son Rocco, a kindergartener, rides bus No. 15.

“Every day, she’s giving prizes, she’s giving rewards,” he said. “The kids love it, the kids are looking forward to it … they get on with a smile, they get off with a smile, it’s fantastic.”

Fontanazza has been working for DMJ Transportation for about five years, but has been driving students to and from school for about 25 years, said DMJ Transportation chief executive officer Jaimie Barron.

Fontanazza said she took up the gig after her children grew up and moved away.

“I always seemed to haul kids around anyhow when they were young,” she said.

Fontanazza was surprised by the honor but said it was much appreciated. She buys goodies on occasion for the high schoolers she transports, too.

“It’s so important nowadays to have positivity in the world and she always has a smile,” said Eric Poole, a school director and head of the transportation committee. “I think it’s just great to get on the bus in the morning and have someone greet you with a smile.”