Chapter 1 kicked off our 1st workshop in November, focusing on Students with Disabilities. It was fun filled, energizing and informative. All 84 attendees received up-to 4 hours of in-service.

State of the art facility, Early Learning & Enrichment Services, Murrieta Valley U.S.D. Jennifer Hanshew, Director of Transportation was gracious to help facilitate.

We had attendees registered from as far as Napa Valley, Orange County, Redlands.

Our presenters are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge, experience, from the classroom, hands on student support, being in the business of teaching the safest way to transport students.

• Jennifer Sweeney, Take a Second Look Educational Foundation, “Why Does My Student Behave This Way”
• Savannah Androus, “Visual Voices” American Sign Language in Special Education.
• Kellie Cook, “Understanding Wheelchair Securement”.
• Kasey Hawksley, “Teamwork Under Pressure Special Needs Bus Evacuation”.

Schools First, donated several gift cards that were part of the opportunity drawings, Starbucks to the rescue, Alexis Nieto at the Cal Oaks location provided coffee and fixings.

It wouldn’t be possible without our Retiree Committee, they showed up before the sun was up and at the end for clean-up. Thank you, for your tireless dedication to our chapter and industry, Sam Anderson, Mary Birmingham, David Walthal and Yolanda Takacs.

Stay tuned!! For our Workshop January 31st, 2026.

 

CASTO Chapter 3 – San Diego & Imperial Counties successfully hosted their “Get in Gear for Smarter Transportation” workshop on November 15 th , bringing 76 members and non-members together for training, collaboration, and professional growth. 4-hours of T-01 credit were provided to all on this rainy southern California day. Mike Sawyer/San Marcos Unified was kind enough to allow us the use of his facility for this valuable training. I’d like to thank the Ch. 3 board for helping make this a successful event!

Participating districts and contractors were: All Tribes Indian Charter School, Army and Navy Academy, Chula Vista Elem, Garden Grove USD, Lakeside Union, MAAC Project, Murrieta Valley USD, Oceanside Unified, Poway Unified, San Diego Unified, San Dieguito Union, San Marcos Unified, Santa Fe Christian Schools, Stephens Transportation Services, Valley Center-Pauma USD, Vista Unified and Whittier Union HSD.

We would like to thank our presenters for taking their weekend to make this event special:

• Andrea Rodriguez, San Marcos Unified, Behavior Interventionist
• Jennifer Sweeney, Take a Second Look Educational Foundation, “Why Does My Student Behave This Way”
• Doug Smith/Antonio Perez, Roadeo – Becoming A Safer, Sharper and More Professional School Bus Driver”

We finally, would like to thank, our sponsors, Becca from Hop, Skip, Drive and Jessica from SchoolFirst for their generous donations and support.

Our next event will be our Roadeo, which will be held at the Chula Vista Elementary SD Transportation Department Center On March 7 th , 2026. Registration is now open.

 

We are thrilled to report that our recent CASTO Orange County Chapter 2 Safety Workshop was a resounding success!

Rosana Guerrero, our Transportation Supervisor, hosted the annual safety driver’s workshop at Walter Knott on Saturday, October 25th. Approximately 75 participants registered for the event!

Our keynote speaker, Norma Martinez, Superintendent of Centralia School District, inspired attendees with her motivational life story. She emphasized the importance of continuous growth in the field—no matter where you come from or how you started your career.

We also enjoyed a great presentation from Doug Smith and Antonio Perez, both Directors of Transportation, who spoke about ROADEO. They shared how participating in ROADEO helped them improve their driving skills and advance within the Transportation Department.

Additional classes featured Gingi Borg from Newport Mesa Unified School District with the “Smoking Bus” presentation; Arturo Romero from Fullerton School District, who led a fun Kahoot! game emphasizing rules and regulations; and James Foster from Bonita Unified School District, who kept drivers motivated with a Jenga Trivia challenge.

Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive—they praised the quality of the sessions and the expertise of our instructors.

To top off the event, we held several opportunity drawings sponsored by AZ Bus Sales, Ride, SchoolsFirst FCU, and the Centralia School District, adding an extra layer of excitement to the day.

A heartfelt thank-you to everyone who participated and helped make this workshop.