DMJ... More Than Just a “Bus Company!”
DMJ’s John Zemba & Mark Kraynick,
along with Principal Mr. Thomas, help
kindergarten students learn about bus safety.
L
ocally owned and family operated,
DMJ Transportation is a company
committed to safe and reliable school
transportation. Starting as a modest
operation with one van, a single district,
and two students, DMJ has grown into a
company with 160 employees, contracting
with 17 districts and organizations,
transporting over 3,300 students to 90
schools. The company offers a complete
inventory of vehicles ranging from seven to
72 passengers. Designed to accommodate
“Total Transportation,” the company can
transport a single student to a special
needs school or a football team to “Friday
Night Lights.” Although they’ve grown
substantially in eighteen years, they are still
a hometown, family business meeting your
transportation needs.
On the first day of school, DMJ had a
member from management located at
each Greensburg Salem School District
building with an iPad to help assist with
bus arrival and departure. Having access to
all routing information and real-time GPS
tracking, they were able to limit the amount
of issues associated with the first day of
school. According to DMJ’s Communications
Director, Jaimie Barron, “It is extremely
important for us to be visible within the
community because this creates a strong
relationship with our districts and the
families that we transport. We feel these
relationships are essential in providing the
best service possible.”
DMJ was present at the Meet the
Teacher nights at Nicely, Hutchinson and
Metzgar elementary schools to educate
the community about their transportation
provider. Being a family owned and locally
operated company allows the company
to immerse themselves in the district and
become familiar with the families they
serve. They also displayed company and
district information at Community Days at
Lynch Field last spring, meeting GS families
and connecting with local neighbors. It was
important for DMJ to be present at these
events because it gave the community a
chance to learn about the company and ask
any transportation questions they may have.
“We don’t want to be just the bus company’,”
stated Ms. Barron. “We want each parent
to know and feel comfortable with DMJ
Transportation.”
DMJ prides itself on safety, and one
initiative being implemented this year is a
bus behavior program with Safety Bus Gus,
a 6-foot alligator committed to educating
students on the importance of proper
school bus etiquette. The first step in this
program is a classroom visit from Safety
Bus Gus and DMJ’s Safety Coordinator,
Mark Kraynick. During the visit, a brief
presentation will be given to students
demonstrating positive behaviors that are
acceptable on the school bus. Throughout
the school year, Safety Bus Gus will be
visiting classrooms as well as riding different
school buses to reinforce proper behavior.
“We are happy that our partnership
with DMJ will include new programs for
our students that will compliment positive
behavior intervention programs within our
schools,” said Coordinator of Transportation,
Dr. Chris Suppo. “Our approach is to teach
good behavior characteristics for riding
safely on a bus and to acknowledge
students when they do.”
Downtown Greensburg Project Donates to GS
T
hanks to the generous support of the local community, the
Downtown Greensburg Project was able to donate hundreds
of school supplies to elementary, middle, and high school
students in Greensburg Salem to help them start the year off right.
From glue sticks and pencils to binders and backpacks, each school
received overflowing bins packed with supplies to distribute to
students.
Founder and Director Jessica Hickey reported that the organization
wanted to come up with a project in order to give back to the
community and decided collecting school supplies for a local district
was the perfect project. A donation box was set up at Hugo’s on
West Pittsburgh Street, and people stepped up to the call to action,
bringing bags and boxes of markers, notebooks, journals and other
requested supplies.
“School supplies aren’t cheap, and we wanted to relieve some of
that cost for the kids in the city our Project focuses on,” stated Ms.
Hickey. “We hope that what we donated helped students have a great
start to their year!”
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GREENSBURG SALEM
The Downtown Greensburg Project is a local organization that aims
to promote all things related to Greensburg. From events, news, who
to know, what to do, and culture, the Project aims to make our city a
better place to live work and play.