“I hope it shows our kids what it looks like when people step up and help others,” shared Blake Andrews, Goddard High School (GHS) cross country coach. “These kids are going to grow up and be parents, coaches, leaders someday and be in situations like this. They got to see what it looks like when everyday people step up for each other and help people in need.”
The morning started like any other day. Two buses, two teams, two drivers. USD 265 Transportation driver Brian Dodds was driving the GHS cross country team, and his colleague Jen Miller was driving the EHS cross country team. The road to Great Bend stretched out ahead of them. Then Brian’s bus broke down, with a blown hose. Waiting for a replacement or technician would put them too far behind to compete.
On a road with a cross-country meet waiting at the end of it, that could have been the day’s whole story. Instead, it was the moment the #265Family went to work. Together.
Jen had already dropped off the EHS team, and she didn’t hesitate. She turned around and headed back to pick up the GHS team, because in this family you don’t leave your people on the side of the road. Brian made a call to Dwane, USD 265 Transportation’s lead mechanic, who was all the way out in Quinter, KS. Dwane didn’t have a bus to hand over and he wasn’t anywhere near the problem, but he started making calls. First he reached Crystal Petty, another USD 265 Transportation team member, in Wichita, who agreed to pick up a replacement bus and bring it to the stranded team. The driver of the broken down bus called Roger Ridgell in Goddard. Roger came in to finish the pre-trip inspection, so the replacement would be safe and ready the moment Crystal arrived.
In addition to the USD 265 Transportation team jumping collectively into action, parents and other USD 265 faculty and staff all teamed together to help the stranded student athletes. Coaches and teams that were competing against EHS and GHS all pitched in to help, as the team arrived in a variety of vehicles and with equipment coming in a multitude of waves. Different people, from different towns, each doing the one thing that needed doing - coming together to save the day and support the #265Family during a moment of need. It wasn’t about what side of Kellogg the bus started the journey on. It was about coming together to ensure that both high school teams got where they needed to be to represent Goddard Public Schools proudly.
The students got where they needed to be, and the athletes ran their races. Although one bus didn’t make it, all of the runners did. Because the meet didn’t depend on the bus arriving. It depended on people coming together for a common cause. A mechanic making calls from Quinter, a driver from Wichita stepping up, parents pitching in and providing rides, a driver from Goddard making the time, another driver who continued to adapt as plans changed, and competitor teams who pitched in without being asked.
“Everyone is so supportive of one another,” Andrews shared. “We’re competitive in races, but everyone wants to see kids succeed and do well.”
That’s the #265Family. Nobody there asked whose job it was, because everyone’s job was to get these student athletes where they needed to be to compete. What a moment of #265Pride for us all to celebrate!