Schools salute bus coordinator

SMITHFIELD — Montavia Heath, a 10-year veteran of the Johnston County Public Schools, is the district’s 2024 Administrative and Auxiliary Services Employee of the Year.

A Johnston County native, Heath has spent all but seven years of his life here. His family lived in New York when he was a small child. Once they returned, Heath briefly attended Selma Elementary School before going to Cleveland Elementary, then Cleveland Middle. His family moved, and Heath graduated from West Johnston High School in 2014.

“I am Johnston County through and through,” he said.

After high school, Heath began studying to earn a degree in elementary education. That was because of a teacher at Cleveland Middle. “She is the real reason why I jumped into education,” Heath recalled.

Heath began his Johnston County Public Schools career as a bus driver, then went into the classroom as a teacher assistant at West View Elementary. While there, a lot of things came into focus for him. At one point, he was a teacher assistant for kindergarten, and that’s when Heath knew he’d found his niche.

Also during his time at West View Elementary, he worked with Lisa Estep, an exceptional children’s teacher. ”She had a major impact on my life,” he said.

Estep was there for Heath while he was working and studying for his degree and then for his transition to his current role.

In 2019, Heath became the bus coordinator for the Smithfield-Selma area — four elementary schools, two middle schools and Smithfield-Selma High. Heath has gone from overseeing eight bus-only drivers to 33, some of whom have never worked in a school setting.

When working with new drivers, Heath’s goals are to make sure they’re happy with what they’re doing, they enjoy coming to work and they feel supported. “It’s a big deal for me,” he said.

Over the years, Heath has used a lot of the strategies he learned during his time and training in the classroom to help bus drivers when they’re dealing with students. “We’re here to get the students to and from school safely each day,” Heath said. But being a bus driver is about more than transportation. Drivers often function as moms, dads and nurses to the children they serve and care for them as if they were their own.

Heath still drives buses when needed, which he enjoys because of the student interactions. “I love watching the kiddos grow and flourish,” he said.

Anytime Heath is at one of his schools, he will make every effort to pop in to say hello to the children. He also takes part in Read Across America, reading books to them. “They’re great kiddos,” Heath said. “All of our students have so many amazing and unique qualities.”

Receiving the Employee of the Year Award was a big surprise, he said. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have that title given to me,” Heath said.

He sees it not as an individual recognition but as an acknowledgment of his team’s daily commitment and responsibility to the students. The award also reinforces his desire to reach and empower students while instilling bus safety.

“I love it so much,” Heath said. “I’m here to make a difference.”

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