ASHLAND — There’s not a piece of equipment in the Crestview Local Schools maintenance garage that Kathy Peyton can’t operate.
She knows her way around the tractor, the all-terrain vehicles and the mower. She can change the oil and sharpen the blades. She’s also adept at driving a school bus.
Peyton is in her 33rd year as a bus driver for Crestview Local Schools. Over the last three decades, she’s stepped in to fill several other roles — from playground and cafeteria aide to middle school basketball coach.
“I’ve watched a lot of kids grow up and become fine adults,” she said.
Peyton currently has 62 children on her route, which has remained unchanged since she started with the district.
She said she has three basic rules for keeping them in order — stay seated when the bus is moving, no yelling or screaming and keep your hands and feet to yourself.
“To me, it’s all about balance. You can still be a person in authority, but you could still be their friend,” she said. “It’s how you discipline and what your expectations are.
“I’ve had the same route all these years, so my kids have grown up with me, and they know what my expectations are.”
District transportation supervisor Joni Robson said Peyton’s kind nature endears her bus riders.
“She makes her kids behave to keep them safe, but they all love her,” Robson said.
“She tells me stories all the time — she’ll be out at an event or just at the grocery store, and she’ll have grown men come up to her and say, ‘Do you remember me? You were my bus driver, and now you’re driving my kid.'”
In addition to driving a bus route, Peyton works for the district maintenance staff, tending the grounds of the district’s 25-acre campus. She plants flowers, rakes leaves and plows snow. She ensures the turf fields are groomed and swept for every home game.
“In the springtime, these gardens all look just spectacular. You can look at our property —everything’s pristine,” Supt. Jim Grubbs said. “Our campus looks like a small college campus. We’re just very proud of it, but the credit goes to Kathy Payton.”
After a coworker retired in 2013, Peyton became certified to test the district’s drinking water supply — a task she still completes daily.
“It’s a nice variety. It makes the day interesting,” she said. “It keeps me hopping, which I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d be bored.”
Peyton was honored for her diverse skillset and dedication to the district in September, when she received the Exemplary School Employee Award from the Ohio School Board Association’s Central Region.
“I was a little surprised,” Peyton said. “I didn’t expect it, but it was a nice thank-you.”
Co-workers describe her as a true professional with a kind heart and second-to-none work ethic.
“When I first came to Crestview, I tried to stop and talk to her, and I was lucky to get her to actually stop moving just long enough to ask her something,” Grubbs said. “She always has that look on her face, like ‘Hey, I got work to do.'”
Robson called Peyton “the lifeblood of the district.”
“Kathy is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met my life,” she said. “She does a little bit of everything.”
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