Transportation Employees Honored for Heroic Efforts

            Galena Park ISD bus driver Beverly Sparks and bus attendant Mary Laxen were recognized at the Dec. 10 Board of Trustees meeting for going beyond the call of duty on Nov. 8, 2007.
            The employees were on bus 297 on their regular route that morning when they came upon a horrible accident involving a passenger vehicle that had left the road on Cimarron Street, near the Cimarron Elementary campus.  The ladies immediately parked the bus and jumped out to render aid to the injured persons from the passenger vehicle.
            The driver of the vehicle injured her leg in the accident and her infant son was severely injured and was not breathing when the GPISD employees arrived. Thankfully, the driver’s other child sustained no serious injuries. Sparks and Laxen realized how serious the situation was and they called for paramedics and the district’s transportation department for help. Laxen, who is trained in CPR, tried fervently to revive the infant by using CRP until the paramedics arrived. Tragically, the infant did not survive the accident.

Beverly Sparks (second from left), and Mary Laxen (third from left), were honored for their bravery during the December school board meeting by Dawn Thompson-Fisher, president of the Board of Trustees (left) and Dr. Mark Henry, superintendent of schools.