NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — We are hearing so many stories of people who stepped up to help after Monday's shooting. Among them is a group that helped bring a sense of safety to those children leaving The Covenant School.
"I believe it is a calling," said Metro school bus driver Kelly Bell. "It's so much more than a job."
"You have to have compassion for the job and kids," added driver Tracy Garton.
Kelly and Tracy have both been bus drivers for Metro Nashville Public Schools for 19 years. When kids board their buses, their safety couldn't be more important to them.
"We go into momma mode, daddy mode," said Kelly. "You start feeling the love like they're your own kids."
Monday morning, after school drop-offs, the usual was underway when shop supervisor Steve Beauman brought urgent news.
"We rounded up all of our drivers," he said.
"There's been an active shooter," Kelly continued.
"I need you in a bus. Let's go," Steve said.
"I dropped what I was doing, and I ran across the parking lot as fast as I could go," Tracy said.
"We went into praying mode on the way there," said Kelly.
The shooting at The Covenant School meant Metro school bus drivers were needed to take the kids from the school to reunite with their parents. Tracy and Kelly were among the drivers who went into action.
"I had some kids sitting right behind me, and they started crying, and I turned around and said, 'everything's going to be OK. You're on the bus,'" said Tracy.
On Kelly's bus, the children didn't seem to know what happened at all. Her job became getting the children away from all of the chaos and helping keep a sense of calm.
"I kept telling the kids, 'we're going on a field trip,'" said Kelly. "My kids on the bus started singing The Wheels On the Bus Go Round and Round. We couldn't be fearful in that moment. We couldn't think about what was going on over there. I'm a mom, so I wanted to get the kids to their parents."
That's exactly what drivers like Kelly and Tracy did.
"I want everybody to know that in times of need, good or bad, the Metro school bus drivers will be there," said Tracy.
