The Peace River School Division is proud to present the 2025 Transportation Award of Excellence to Michael Harrison for his outstanding service to the students and staff at Red Earth Creek School (RECS).

Mr. Harrison is recognized for creating a positive, safe, and welcoming environment on his bus every day. He maintains a spotless vehicle and greets every student with a smile. Beyond his daily route, Mr. Harrison consistently goes above and beyond to support student activities. An example of this is seen in the fact that he has taken time off from his full-time job to ensure RECS students can attend field trips. He has even assisted school staff and participated in field trip activities when needed.

During the winter months, Mr. Harrison ensures students safely get to and from local activities within Red Earth town limits, such as skating and Christmas concert practices, so they do not have to walk in extreme cold.

Thank you, Michael, for your dedication to safety, your dependability, and you dedication to the RECS community.

Teresa Hovelkamp is the 2024 recipient of the Peace River School Division Transportation Award of Excellence.

This annual award is unique to the PRSD and celebrates the dedication and commitment of transportation staff. Eligible employees include bus drivers, mechanics, and central operations transportation staff.

Teresa drives route 92 in Fairview and can almost always be seen wearing a smile. A mainstay in the Division, Teresa has been a PRSD employee since November, 2004.

According to the nominations, she is described as a great coworker who is very dependable. Teresa was also praised for having pride in her bus and always finding a way to be helpful.

“She takes considerable care of the kids on her bus. Once she saw a bear with cubs near our property and she drove my daughter right up to the house door to make sure she was safe, and called me to make sure I knew,” wrote one of Teresa’s nominators.

Teresa was presented with the award on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 during the Bus Driver Start-Up event held at Central Operations in Grimshaw. Superintendent Adam Murray and Transportation Manager Merlin Lee presented Teresa with the award. Congratulations Teresa on being the 2024 recipient of the Transportation Award of Excellence!

This year, the Division received an unprecedented 59 nominations for the award. Each of the nominees were recognized during Bus Driver Start-Up events held on August 19, 20, 21 and 22.

Peter Gunning is the inaugural winner of the PRSD Spare Driver Award of Excellence as nominated by his coworkers and other members of the transportation department.

The Peace River School Division values tremendously the willingness and availability of our spare bus drivers. These people are Class 2S drivers who, sometimes with very short notice, step in for our regular drivers to ensure students arrive safely to and from school. Without spare drivers, there would be more interruptions in transportation service, meaning many students would not have reliable transportation back and forth from their school buildings. 

About Peter

Peter has been employed by the PRSD since 2013, becoming a spare driver in January, 2017. He currently provides relief for our regular drivers in the communities of Peace River and Nampa. In gathering information for this award, the PRSD Transportation Department asked for feedback from the regular drivers. Some of the feedback they received regarding Peter included:

• Peter goes above and beyond to help everyone. 
• Peter is an amazing bus driver, my students get excited when I let them know he will be driving for me. 
• Peter demonstrates a sense of pride and respect for the learning by always having a smile, he always has a positive attitude. 

Peter was presented with his award during the Spare Bus Driver Start-Up event held on August 26 at Central Operations in Grimshaw. Superintendent Adam Murray and Transportation Manager Merlin Lee presented Peter with the award. 

Congratulations Peter on being the 2024 recipient of the Peace River School Division Spare Driver Award of Excellence.