121625...R POLAR EXPRESS 1...Niles...12-16-25...TCBDD hosts Polar Express Day...Preschoolers Matteo Butto, 3, of Niles, left, and Brenton Wilson, 3, of Mineral Ridge, lick their fingers after decorating and eating Christmas cookies at the holiday event...by R. Michael Semple

NILES — If the preschoolers weren’t excited about Christmas already, they certainly were after visiting the Polar Express event Tuesday at Fairhaven School.

The children entered the transportation break room to sit at one of the two tables and decorated a cookie, drank hot chocolate and watched the movie “Polar Express,” which played in the background.

“This was all the idea of our morale committee made up of bus drivers and bus aides,” said Jennifer Durno, director of transportation at the school.

The women spearheading the inaugural Christmas event were Chalsie Riggleman, a bus aide from Austintown, and Terri Schneider, a bus driver from Girard. Riggleman added to the festive atmosphere with her outfit. She called her ensemble “an elf in training.”

The committee chose “Polar Express” as their film because children love trains and it stands for believing in Santa Claus and having Christmas spirit.

In the hallway, Santa Claus and one of his elves waited patiently to listen to children’s wish lists and take a group photo with every classroom.

“This is a nice way to interact with kids that you don’t see every day on your bus,” Schneider said.

Bus driver Dana Hambrick of Youngstown agreed with Schneider.

“I am having fun interacting with new kids that are not on my bus and seeing my students from my route,” she said.

Volunteers from the morale committee greeted the children when they entered the room, served them hot chocolate, helped them decorate their cookies and guided them to the hallway to see Santa.

Nick Namola, a bus aide of Warren, was assigned hot chocolate delivery. He had a huge smile on his face while he served the preschoolers a drink.

“I am having fun with the kids,” he said.

Riggleman was conscious of the dietary restrictions of some of the children because her daughter had a feeding tube at one time. She provided applesauce and pudding for children with swallow issues so every young one could enjoy a snack.

Bus driver Gerald Woods had a family connection at the school but he also enjoyed meeting the other children who were not on his route.

“My granddaughter goes to school here. I get to see her every morning. Last year, I was a bus aide and this year, I am a bus driver. I feel it is where I am supposed to be,” he said.

Fairhaven School Principal Michelle Ocilka-Yeckle described numerous positive aspects of this event.

“This is good for the teachers. They get to sit back and know their students are in good hands as the transportation workers are in charge. This helps foster relationships between the bus drivers, aides and the children. With these interactions, the children are excited to see their driver and aide and they want to go to school and attendance increases,” Ocilka-Yeckle said.

The relationships were apparent when children would leave the volunteer guiding them to a chair to decorate their cookies and walked instead to the bus driver or aide that they recognized from their daily bus rides.

Riggleman said that the event was “like a field trip for the kids,” since they left their classrooms and visited another building other than where their classrooms, cafeteria and gym are located.

“The morale committee comes up with ideas that focus on pushing just outside of what we can do on the school buses and how to support families in our community when our buses are parked,” Durno said.

After the success of the first event with approximately 100 preschool students, Durno said they are considering a second day of fun for the older students next year.