Making a difference sometimes starts with learning someone’s name.
When Al Sletten picks up students on bus number 40 in the early hour of a school day, he first greets them by name — every single one.
“They all have their own unique personalities and I just ask them what their name is right away, then I try to remember it,” Sletten said, sitting behind the wheel of his bus.
Those around him know there’s more to it than just that.
During September’s school board meeting, Superintendant Mark Miller carved out time for a “spotlight on success” and gave Sletten the district’s first Fred Award. The concept behind the award, Miller explained, stems from a national best-selling book by Mark Sanborn, “The Fred Factor.” In the book, which Miller read an excerpt from, a character named Fred epitomizes “a role model for anyone who wants to make a difference in his or her work.”
Miller saw first-hand the difference Sletten makes on his route as a First Student bus driver for the Juneau School District. Miller asked Kevin Hansen, First Student location manager, if he could ride along with students on a bus for the first day of classes this year to really get that “first day” experience. Little did he know how much of the day could be affected by a bus ride.
“Al the bus driver picked me up and we drove all the way out as far as you can go on North Douglas,” Miller recalled from his trip with Sletten. “We waited for 15 minutes because ‘Fred,’ I mean, Al, is always on time.”
What happened next caught Miller by surprise. Sletten greeted his first rider by first and last name, asked about her older sister, then headed out for his next stop. There, the child didn’t come out right away, so Sletten checked to see what was going on. He saw the mom’s car was missing and knew she must have wanted to take her kid to school for the first day. This type of personalized treatment carried on for the entire morning, but it didn’t end when the students stepped onto school grounds.
As Miller exited the bus at Gastineau Elementary School that morning to speak with the principal, he saw Sletten walking in, too. He had two book bags with him.
“He said ‘These two kids’ — and he called them by name — ‘left these bags on the bus on the first day of school. We can’t have that,’” Miller said. “He goes, ‘I’ll go check in the playground,’ came back without the two bags, nodded his head and said, ‘time for me to go on my second route to pick up the high school kids.’”
Hansen was none too surprised to find out Miller was impressed by his driver’s work. He said he selected Sletten for Miller’s ride-along because Sletten has history of excellence that exemplified all the drivers of First Student.
Even Hansen had to admit, however, that Sletten was more than just an average bus driver. Last year, Sletten never missed a day of work, and he passed the lesson of punctuality down to the students, getting them to school on time every day.
“I’ve been doing this 20 years in numerous states, and if we had a bunch of Al’s, our job would be easy,” Hansen said.
If you ask Sletten, it’s the kids that make the work easy. He talks about them, by first name of course, with a smile on his face. Many students have been on Sletten’s bus since their first day of kindergarten, then he is reunited with them during their senior year. He’s a big part of their day, and it’s no wonder that every year he’s asked to sign yearbooks and the back of school portraits.
This friendly relationship, Hansen said, is based on the respect Sletten demonstrates toward students. He gets it as much as he gives it out, which is plenty. In fact, Sletten treats the kids on his bus much like a parent might treat their children — passing out life lessons whenever the opportunity arises.
“I (did) little things for them and they wouldn’t say ‘thank you,’” Sletten said, recalling treats he gave out last year for his students. “So I said, ‘Well, we need to learn some manners here.’ And so this year every single one of them, if they do anything fun (on the bus), they’ll say ‘thank you.’ They really catch on quick.”
What Sletten and other bus drivers provide for students is more than just a bus ride, Hansen said: it’s a quality start and end to every school day that impacts the entire learning experience.
“It was really neat to see the district (and) First Student working together, you know, showing that unity,” Hansen said about Sletten’s award.
Sletten isn’t the only one memorizing names. The kids show him the same respect.
“Yesterday I saw three kids at Foodland, one of them selling Cub Scouts cookies with his dad. His name’s Kevin, and he goes ‘Hi, Al,’” Sletten said. “Then I saw another one. Her name’s Katie, and she was with her mom, and she goes, ‘Hi, Al.’ I kind of like that.”
• Contact reporter Paula Ann Solis at 523-2272 or at paula.solis@juneauempire.com.
