On the evening of Thursday, Sept. 19 one of our Banks County school buses was carrying a group of FCCLA students to a meeting when the bus broke down in downtown Covington, approximately 70 miles from Banks County when I received the phone call from Dr. Nan Throneberry, the sponsor of our FCCLA club. She was quite upset, not knowing what to do or how to continue from that point, as you might imagine. As the police arrived on the scene they assisted in transporting the group to their meeting as well as facilitating an evening meal at a local restaurant. One of the Officers on duty, Sgt. Chris Cain, was thoughtful enough to provide me with Newton County School System bus driver, Randall Luna’s contact information. By the time I spoke with Mr. Luna, he had already made arrangements to get our bus out of a busy intersection and made further plans to have the bus towed to the Newton County Transportation Department. Mr. Luna assured me that the bus would be fine and the students would be transported to their meetings without having to miss a thing. He even offered to pick them up in the morning and take them to their meeting the following day.

I can honestly tell you I was floored by the treatment the Police Department and your school system gave ourstudents and our bus that night. Mr. Luna has certainly given me an example to follow when it comes to "treat your neighbor as yourself."

If I were from Newton County, I would have been very proud of the way your community treated our folks last Thursday night. Please take a minute and thank Mr. Luna for me and the parents of those students. Those involved made quite an impression!

Clay Hobbs

Transportation/Facilities Director Banks County Schools