Celebrating National School Bus Safety Week: Meet Bus Monitor Jaketa Watkins

In recognition of National School Bus Safety Week, the following feature is part of a series of short articles highlighting Atlanta Public Schools Transportation Department employees and their commitment to keep students safe – both on and off the school bus.

Bus monitor Jaketa Watkins loves her job, and she works to make every day as special as possible.

“I try to make my students’ day as joyous and pleasant as possible,” said Watkins, a 14-year veteran who transports special needs students from Usher-Collier Elementary School and Frederick Douglass High School. “They are very sweet kids. I form a relationship with my students to let them know that I’m in control and that there will be respect.”

In her role as a bus monitor Watkins ensures that students abide by bus safety rules at all times.

“I make sure that students sit down, there is no standing, their limbs are not hanging out of the window, and that their seat belts are on at all times,” she said. “It’s extremely important to transport kids to and from home safely.”

Be sure to check out tomorrow’s final feature, which will spotlight transportation dispatchers Sandy Asemota and Michelle Muhammad.