Mon Schools' bus driver Service of the Year for 2024: Nora Pacifico transports special-needs students

May 31—A fateful thing happened to Nora Pacifico back when her children were little and their church needed someone to drive the bus for Sunday school, field trips and the like.

The young mom got behind the wheel, learned how to work the clutch and the stick shift and the mirrors, and off she went.

That was back in North Carolina, where she and her family lived at the time.

Another job brought them to Pennsylvania, which led to the eventual move back home to Morgantown, with Pacifico always piloting a church bus somewhere, always helping out.

"I never thought this would turn into 22 years with Monongalia County Schools, " she said, two weeks ago at a Board of Education meeting.

She never thought she'd be recognized with the district's Service Person of the Year award for 2024, either.

Driving a school bus is demanding — but Pacifico's is even more so.

Her bus transports special-needs students to and from daily, and that's the only job she's had since that first day in 2002.

Like most drivers good at their job, she gets attached every year. She's now a grandmother, but she refers to the passengers she transports as "her kids, " as she told the BOE.

"My passion is the kids, " she said. "I love my kids."

Tony Harris, the district's director of transportation services, said he loves that Pacifico never stops learning about the intricacies of her job, from state regulations to the logistics of getting her kids into their seats daily.

"When I look at Nora, " he said, "it's easy to see just how dedicated she is."

She often volunteers in a training capacity, helping the new drivers coming in, the director said.

"If a driver has a question, they go to Nora, " she said. "She makes everyone shine."

Putting the spotlight on others is her signature, Harris said.

However, when it comes to her, he said, chuckling — you'd best forget it.

In fact, she accepted her award on behalf of all the drivers in the district.

BOE President Ron Lytle found out just how publicity shy she is, when he implored the Service Person of the Year to say a few words at that meeting of May 23.

Pacifico fixed him with a split-second look, which froze him perfectly still in his chair.

"She's really good at a death-stare, " he said, as both laughed.

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