The road is bumpy and the bus is loud, only adding to the charging electricity that weaves in and out of the seat rows as the track and field team chants songs in unison on their way to compete against their rivals a town away. Each rider on the bus is an athlete, physically and mentally fit, dedicated to their sport and driven by personal excellence. The competitors find their rhythm naturally as the chants and cheers change, one song leading into the next, fueling the fire in each of their bellies as they prepare to represent their school and home town in the events ahead. As the bus pulls into the parking lot, the student athletes empty out single file, with professionalism, confidence, intimidation, and above all, solidarity. Though they compete in individual sports, they understand the significance of building one another up if they are to compete at their highest level and do well today. Pulling in behind them, a shorter bus. Inside, the para-athletes. Equally as fierce, as mentally fit and as physically prepared to dominate their competition today in the name of personal excellence and home town reverence. But the para-athletes did not come on the same bus as the rest of their teammates because the larger bus wasn’t purchased with para-athletes in mind.
Sublette County #9 in Big Piney, WY is changing the way their para-athletes compete.
Previously, high school athletes involved in after school activities would be driven to and from their games in a Thomas Built Bus suitable for agile and ambulatory athletes only while the para-athletes followed closely behind in smaller, wheelchair accessible buses. The cost of this is team performance as well as fiscal responsibility– school districts are paying for two buses when one will do and will do better for the cohesion and inclusion of their students.
Sublette County #9 in Big Piney, WY has just purchased their first Thomas Built Bus Wheelchair Accessible Activity Bus, uniting their students as one force to be reckoned with. Anyone who’s ever participated in team sports can identify the electricity that courses throughout your limbs as you and your team mates prepare for the challenge ahead; they understand the significance of solidarity in those moments. Any high school coach will confirm, a quiet bus ride leads to an inevitable loss.
Lewis Bus Group tips our caps to Sublette County #9 in the name of student inclusion and fiscal conservatism. It’s rare a dealership of any kind will ask you, ‘Why buy two vehicles when one will do?’ But at Lewis Bus Group, we’re looking to move you forward. Towards inclusion, towards excellence.
Congratulations on your new bus, Big Piney!
Pictured: CT Smith, John Copeland, Richard Griffen