First Student Pincher Creek holds Employee Appreciation BBQ

First Student Pincher Creek employees
T. Lucas photos

Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

First Student employees are visible all around the Pincher Creek area, driving school or Shell buses.    First Student Pincher Creek held their first Employee Appreciation barbecue on May 3, 2013.  "We're hoping to have this as an annual event," said Location Manager Sharon Roberts, who expressed a lot of pride for the team of 27 bus drivers that work for the company.

As part of a region that includes five communities in Alberta as far north as Airdrie, they won a "Driving Toward Championship Performance" award in December of 2012.  The region was one of nine to win across Canada and the United States.  The Pincher Creek branch also received an Honorable Mention at the First Group Safety Conference for the category of Operational Safety.

First Student is the largest provider of school bus transportation services in North America.

The company timed the event to happen the same week as National Employee Appreciation Day, celebrated across North America on May 1.  Locally, First Student runs the buses for the Shell Industrial Complex, Livingstone Range School Division and Holy Spirit School Division.  Employees for Pincher Creek and Lundbreck areas transport over 400 students a day, rain or shine, throughout the school year.