Longtime Butler school district bus driver awarded after years of making riders smile
CENTER TWP — Every single child gets a “good morning” when they get on Kim Lokhaiser’s school bus, and Monday, March 9, was a particularly good morning for the longtime driver, as well as her passengers.
Lokhaiser earned the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Monday, an honor that goes to nonteaching school personnel who make a difference in the lives of students. Lokhaiser has driven a school bus for Butler Area School District for 32 years, and in all that time, she never expected a recognition like the one she received Monday.
But some of her current passengers who attend Center Township Elementary School, where she was presented with the award Monday, attested that Lokhaiser — or “Ms. Kim” to them — is more than deserving of the award.
“She is a great bus driver, but more importantly, she is an amazing person,” said fifth-grader Anna Benjamin. “Even though Ms. Kim’s only part of your day for a very short period of time, you can still really enjoy your bus ride. She always greets you with a very warm smile, and, all in all, Ms. Kim is a very thoughtful and kind person.”
The RISE Award takes nominations from the spring to the late-summer for the following year’s award winners, and two are chosen each year as winners of the award. A nominee also has to send in an application to be considered by the selection committee. Finally, the committee interviews applicants for the award before choosing two people out of thousands of nominees.
According to Carrie Rowe, Pennsylvania’s secretary of education who presented the award Monday, some service personnel are “a cut above” in how they do their jobs, which is what earns them a state recognition like the RISE Award.
“I think that’s what we found with Ms. Kim — how she makes the kids feel safe, feel seen and feel relevant,” Rowe said. “In addition to being a school bus driver and doing that for 30 years, she also goes to the intermediate school as a paraprofessional, and that tells me who she is as a person and that she wants to help kids.”
An employee of A.J. Myers & Sons, which Butler Area School District contracts school buses through, Lokhaiser covers four bus routes each morning: two for Butler Senior High School, one for Butler Intermediate High and one for Center Township Elementary. Then, as Rowe mentioned, she spends the middle of her day as a paraprofessional at the intermediate high school, before hopping back on her bus and covering those routes again for drop-offs.
“It’s a 12-hour day for me,” said Lokhaiser, who added that she gets up at around 4 a.m. to prepare for that work schedule.
She previously covered routes for Oakland Township Elementary, a school that was consolidated about 12 years ago, and led to her driving for Center Township Elementary. It was at Oakland Township Elementary where she met the teacher who would eventually nominate her for the RISE Award, Jen Srock, who attended the award ceremony Monday to congratulate Lokhaiser.
Srock, who is retired but works as a substitute teacher at schools including Center Township Elementary, said Lokhaiser made a difference in her life, as well as those of her students, who always gave compliments after getting off the bus and attending her class. She said she remembers seeing Lokhaiser dressed up as Mickey Mouse to make her passengers smile, giving gifts to students on holidays and continuously being enthusiastic about driving.
“She wanted to make connections with her kids and really wanted to know her kids,” Srock said of Lokhaiser. “Anyone who can drive for 30 years and still be so enthusiastic about it deserves to be recognized.”
While the RISE Award may be the highest institutional award Lokhaiser has received for her work, the plaque will be placed among the many, many gifts she has received from her passengers in the 32 years she has been a school bus driver. One of the classroom walls at Center Township Elementary was lined with drawings, cards and pictures of other gifts that Lokhaiser has received from students over the years, which she said only represents a fraction of the actual number of gifts.
The RISE Award wasn’t even the only recognition Lokhaiser received Monday.
“I love my kids, I got homemade cards even today,” she said. “This probably isn’t even a quarter of my stuff.”
Aside from being personable with her passengers, Lokhaiser said driving a school bus is a challenge in itself, not only because it is large and unwieldy, but because of the reaction school buses get from other drivers on the road.
“You have the most precious cargo when you’re driving, and when you’re driving, people have to understand we have to go slow,” Lokhaiser said. “We can’t just go fast because they don’t want their child hurt or anything.”
Lokhaiser’s RISE Award is the second straight for Butler Area School District. Jim Green, a resource officer at Broad Street Elementary, earned the state and national RISE Awards last year.
Earning the state recognition this year was even more of a shock to Lokhaiser because of the standard Green set in the school district.
“Last year Officer Jim got it, and those are big shoes to fill,” Lokhaiser said. “I was speechless that day because I was in awe,” she added about learning that she won the award.
The assembly Monday, which was attended by county and state elected officials, included speeches from Rowe; the school district’s superintendent, Brian White; and Lokhaiser. While the officials spoke highly of Lokhaiser, and commented that it’s rare for a person to drive a school bus as long as she has, it was the words of the students who ride her bus that told Lokhaiser’s story.
“She is always in a cheerful mood,” said Gracie Szul, a fifth-grader at Center Township Elementary. “I am so lucky to have such an amazing bus driver.”
“Ms. Kim is very kind and caring,” said Sophie Carr, a fourth-grader at Center Township Elementary. “She always makes sure everyone is safe. Ms. Kim always greets every kid with a smile and is a really good bus driver.”
Lokhaiser is now in the running to earn the RISE Award on a national level, Rowe said. That
The RISE Award was created March 2019 to recognize and promote the commitment and excellence exhibited by full- or part-time classified school employees who provide exemplary service to students in prekindergarten through high school.
The nomination period opened Feb. 1. Nominations for 2026 close Aug. 30 and applications will be due Sept. 15.
The U.S. Secretary of Education will select a national winner from all states’ nominations by May 31.
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, thanks everyone after receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, receives the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Anna Benjamin, a fifth-grader, talks about Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Anna Benjamin, a fifth-grader, talks about Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Gracie Szul, a fifth-grader, talks about Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Gracie Szul, a fifth-grader, talks about Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Sophie Carr, a fifth-grader, talks about Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Sophie Carr, a fifth-grader, talks about Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Pennsylvania Sen. Scott Hutchison congratulates Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, before she receives the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
One of many bus balloons decorated the gym of Center Township Elementary School to honor Kim Lokhaiser as she received the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe talks to students before giving Kim Lokhaiser the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, receives the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, receives the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, receives the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Carrie Rowe at Center Township Elementary School on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, sits inside her bus at Center Township Elementary School after receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, sits inside her bus at Center Township Elementary School after receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, stands beside her bus at Center Township Elementary School after receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
-
Kim Lokhaiser, a bus driver for Butler Area School District for 30 years, stands beside her bus at Center Township Elementary School after receiving the Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award from the Pennsylvania Department of Education on Monday, March 9, 2026. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
