GJCS Welcomes Community to Bus Garage Open House

By: Corbin Lingenfelter, News Director

Jasper- The Greater Jasper Consolidated School Corporation hosted community members at its bus garage near the Jasper Middle School.

Hotdogs, hamburgers, and bus driving was on hand for attendees.

“I think my biggest takeaway is we do have a lot of interest in our new bus maintenance building,” said Glenn Buechlein, Director of Transportation and Safety for GJCS.

Willing participants also had the chance to hop in the driver's seat of an actual school bus and take a short course in the parking lot of the middle school.

“I was very nervous,” shared Gillian Blessinger, “My first thought was I wasn’t going to reach the pedals. But it wasn’t as scary as I thought. I don’t know if it was Officer (Jason) Knies was talking me through the whole thing, but it was definitely a lot different than I expected, in a good way.”

An estimated 50 people showed up for the openhouse from 6:30pm to 8:00 pm at the garage. That number was higher than expected for garage manager Bobby Schuetter.

“It actually surprised me how many people came,” said Schuetter, “I didn’t know if anybody would come out, that’s nice. They could see what we do and what we can’t do.”

More community events are being planned according to Buechlein. If you are interested in becoming a bus driver for GJCS, you can contact Buechlein at the school’s Central Office.