For Jerry Martin, Jr. from Copperas Cove, Texas, the safety of the students he picks up for school is one of his priorities. That’s why it was not a hassle for him to just one day cut up the overgrown grass at one of the bus stops.
The veteran school bus driver for Williams Ledger Elementary School noticed the poor condition of the bus stop with weeds that have grown so high it has blocked the front yard of an abandoned home. They nearly covered the concrete road where the kids wait for the bus.
Martin reckoned the weeds were “knee-high” and that’s considering he is tall at six feet. For the students, the grass reached their waist.
“It wasn’t just grass. The weeds had popped up all over the place and they had like sticker things on there and I didn’t want the kids worried about getting bitten by a chigger,” Martin said out of concern for the students’ safety.
Without hesitation, the concerned driver took care of the grass himself. After his shift, he went home and came back to the bus stop with his lawnmower.
“I took the bus back I came home and got my lawnmower and put it in my truck. I just left and went and cut it,” he told KWTX.
Martin thought nothing of what he did since he had done it before. He said he has done it several times before, only this time someone took a photo and shared it on social media. The Copperas Cove ISD posted the snap on Facebook and it soon went viral. Those who knew Marin from school attested to his kind and generous personality.
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“Mr. Martin is a genuinely great person. He drove my sons bus in kindergarten and Gage thought he hung the moon. I have had the pleasure of seeing him and speaking with him before I retired from H-E-B in Cove. Beautiful soul,” one mother wrote.
“Mr. Martin my bus driver back in the day!! He’s such a great guy and definitely made a positive impact on my life at such a young age,” another commented on the photo.
Meanwhile, one student who remembered Martin from her elementary days said the driver “would always have fresh fruit for us to take home and was my favorite bus driver ever. I’m so happy he’s still shedding some positive lights on students today!”
Clearly, Martin loves what he is doing, putting smiles on people’s faces, because he plans to do more yard work after his shift. He noticed some high grass at another bus stop and said he will work on cutting it too.