Charlie Hood
School BUSRide recently spoke with Charlie Hood , executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services ( NASDPTS ). Hood will retire in March after a career spanning almost 40 years .
How did you first get into the school bus and school transportation industry ? I started out in education , having graduated from Florida State University as an elementary education major . I quickly discovered during my internship at FSU that I really was not a natural at dealing with kids . I love kids and obviously my whole career is centered around students , but I did not particularly take to the teaching aspect of . One of the things I had already decided at that point was that I needed tangible skills as a backup plan , so I made an intentional effort to make my avocation , which at that time was mechanics and racing motorcycles , into a vocation , and I went to work at a local Ford dealership . I have huge respect for teachers , it is an incredible challenge , and I am grateful for them . I just was not any good at it . I respect school bus drivers for the same reason . Like teachers , successful bus drivers are good at the art of working with children . I worked at various local dealerships for six years and during that time I became acquainted with a project over at FSU , in the Center for Studies in Vocational Education , where they were writing auto mechanics curriculum . I helped them write a couple of units in an instructional series and I found that relating my technical skills in writing was interesting . Having a grandmother and mother who had both been English teachers helped . I would go out and repair cars while my colleagues took photographs of the mechanical procedures , which they then turned into line drawings . Following that I helped write and edit the drafts through the final instructional manuals . That was an interesting and rewarding aspect of my career , albeit a short one that lasted only 14 months through completion of the project . During that time , a colleague told me about a job at the Florida Department of Education for a school bus maintenance specialist . Although I did not have much experience with trucks and buses , I had some through my automotive work . I became certified as a master automotive and bus technician through the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence ( ASE ), which was a new organization at that time .
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