Angie Kim was honored this fall as the first recipient of the Foundation of Caring Award. This Blue Springs School District bus driver’s quick thinking and commitment of caring was instrumental in saving a toddler from injury or worse. Angie cared enough to get involved and protect the well-being of the children in our community. She did what any of her co-workers would do when she was driving her route a couple of weeks ago down Cemetery Road and saw a toddler wandering in the street. She stated, "It was immediately evident that she was alone, lost, and in danger of being hit by a vehicle on a very busy road. At the moment I saw the child, training I had received kicked into autopilot. I immediately stopped and secured the school bus, called transportation for assistance, then got the child onto my bus before the child was hit."

Once the sub driver arrived, she took the child and walked around the area trying to find someone who might be looking for the toddler, or for other kids playing in a nearby yard. She thought the child might have gotten out of a yard, but saw no one and waited with the child until police arrived. Later the police called Transportation and asked that we be advised that the parents had been found.

Angie is a lifelong resident of our community and graduated from Blue Springs High School in 1993. While working as a bus driver, she has continued her education and will graduate in May of 2008 from the University of Central Missouri with an undergraduate degree in social work. Immediately following graduation, she will work for the DFS working in investigations while getting her Master’s Degree from Kansas University. Her ultimate goal is to be a Blue Springs School District social worker.

Angie has said, "Working for Transportation has been a blessing for me and my family. Driving for the district has given me the flexibility to have afternoons off so I could finish my degree, as well as allow me to have lunch with my children at school and volunteer for PTA. I enjoy my job as a bus driver and it will remain a part of me for the rest of my life."