Award allows Lee Career Center to buy bus

Randy Burns / The Item Lee County Career and Technology Center Bryan DuRant steps off the new activity bus acquired by the school to transport students to field trips.

By RANDY BURNS
Item Staff Writer
rburns@theitem.com

BISHOPVILLE – It has just gotten a lot easier and less expensive for students at the Lee County Career and Technology Center to go on field trips.

Thanks to a 2008 Palmetto Gold Award of $11,000, the school has acquired a 16-passenger activity bus.

"The money we receive for being a Palmetto Gold school has to directly benefit students," said Director Bryan DuRant. "And our School Improvement Council decided this was how it wanted to spend the money."

DuRant said the bus will be getting plenty of use. In November, cosmetology students will be participating in a Southeastern Cosmetology Conference in Atlanta.

"I know we'll take the bus to Atlanta," DuRant said. "All of our departments belong to national associations. We are on the road a lot. Career exploration is a very important part of what we do, and our classrooms go beyond the walls of this school."

Automotive Technology Instructor Lavern Grantham, who also serves as assistant to the director, said students are always going on field trips to industries and colleges for shadowing, mentoring, training and competitions.

"All of our occupational courses are skills-based," Grantham said. "All of our departments participate in competitions and attend conferences. Being able to have easy access to transportation is so important in enabling us provide these learning opportunities for our students."

Grantham said the 16-passenger bus is the "right size" for the Career Center.

"Most of the trips that we go on have about a dozen students," Grantham said. "It's just not feasible for us to be using a 70-passenger bus.

DuRant said having its own bus will save the school money in transportation costs.

"It's our bus," he said. "We won't have to pay the district or the state to use a bus."

DuRant credits Grantham for his role in securing the bus.

"Mr. Grantham found the bus," DuRant said. "A new bus would cost almost $50,000, but he was able to find one in good shape for a lot less. And of course, he knows how to make repairs when it breaks down."

Grantham said the bus was bought from a local garage, and was most recently used by an area church.

"It has about 100,000 miles on it," Grantham said. "But it's in excellent shape. We should be able to get another 100,000 miles out of it. We should have no problem in getting years of service from this bus."