CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the past 42 years Anita Byrd has looked forward to picking up kids for school every morning on the school bus.

“I love what I do,” Byrd said. “I love to drive, and I love children.”

Byrd started driving for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools when she was only 16 years old, driving her own classmates to school.

Anita Byrd has been a school bus driver for 42 years

She started driving when she was just 16 years old

She now drives kids in the Exceptional Children's program

While the city roads have changed, and the pay scale, the mission on the road has always stayed the same.

“Children need to know that they're safe. The parents need to know that they're safe,” Byrd said.“Children need to know that they're safe. The parents need to know that they're safe,” Byrd said.

For the last few years, Byrd has found a new passion in her work. She's transporting kids in the exceptional children’s program.

“They understand that this person really loves me,” Byrd said. “This person's going to take care of me and the smile that they give me after I go through teaching them something, it's just priceless.”

She goes out of her way to help comfort the kids, even if that means singing for them as she drives.

That dedication means the world for parents like Gerrell Hoover, whose son Josiah rides Byrd’s bus each day.

“Miss Anita Bird, she will have, you know, toys and things for the, you know, for my son and other children to play with if they are dealing with a little inside,” Hoover said. “So I've seen firsthand how the bus drivers really calm them down.”

Josiah Hoover is on the Autism spectrum and began school during remote learning and COVID-19, but Hoover says Byrd makes sure he’s OK every day.

“It's a sigh of relief as a parent to know that your child is in great hands,” Hoover said. “That if he's not having his best morning or his best afternoon, that you have a bus driver like Miss Anita that will care for them, will not be short with them, you know, not raise their voice at them and really just be a part of the calming process.”

As for Byrd, she says just being there for the children is the biggest reward of all.

“The job is a challenge, but as any job is,” Byrd said. “You never know what you can say to a child to boost up their morale, their spirit, something that will stick with them through their whole life.”

Byrd says her career has been one of the best decisions for her. As districts across the country are searching for more drivers, she encourages anyone who might be thinking of switching careers to apply.