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“People say that I haven’t changed. I guess that’s true. I’m just me. I’m just older. But I know that I’ve grown.”
Tom Grant has been the Director of Transportation for Berean Christian High School for twenty years. Before taking the job, Grant was driving bus for the Concord Blue Devils Drum Corps and a local public school district. He had friends at Berean Christian and when the position for Transportation Director opened up, they encouraged him to apply.
“I felt like God was telling me to go for it,” says Grant. And he did.
Grant remembers one of the first trips that he took with Berean students. It was with Mr. and Mrs. Hazelrigg and the choir. They were touring through Southern California. “This was before everyone had a cell phone and GPS,” Grant says. “We were using highlighted paper maps and flip phones.”
Grant was blown away by how special that experience was for him. He loved listening to the students sing worship songs in churches and retirement homes as they traveled from town to town. He became fast friends with the Hazelriggs.
Tom has an easy way of talking. Even over the phone, it feels like you can see him smiling as he tells stories of driving a school bus. Every story is laced with gratitude: He’s grateful for the job, he’s grateful that he gets to speak into kids' lives every day, and he’s grateful for meeting his wife on a Berean bus.
Tom says that when you drive a bus for a school, “You get to be great friends with teachers and coaches.” Tom’s wife, Fran is a Berean alumnus. When Tom started working for Berean, Fran was coaching softball for the school and Tom drove for many of the softball trips. It took a few years before they started dating. Tom says, “One of the softball dads had to clue me in that Fran might also be interested in me.”
When they got married in 2009, Tom says that the Berean community was a big part of the ceremony – the music, photography, and even the officiating had ties to Berean Christian High School.
Getting to know the students is one of Tom’s favorite aspects about the job. Before driving bus for Berean, he led church groups on whitewater rafting trips and he taught Sunday school at church.
“I think God had been preparing me for this job for a lot of years,” says Tom. “I’m like a youth pastor who happens to be a bus driver.”
Tom’s love for God and Berean students is well known at the school. He’s been asked to lead devotionals and be a guest speaker at student retreats. Tom says that it’s an honor and a privilege to be recognized as a trusted leader in the community. His lack of formal teaching credentials doesn’t bother him.
“Everyone who works at Berean has been hired because they love God, love kids, and want to see them growing as young believers,” Tom says. That’s what qualifies him to be a teacher and role model for students.
Tom enjoys the opportunity to talk with kids on the bus every day. He is grateful for the chance to speak into young people’s lives. Kids who ride the bus every day form their own special community. “You hear a lot of interesting conversations on the bus; it’s a lot of girl/boy stuff – who’s interested in who, you know.”
Tom says that the kids will frequently include him in their conversations. That gives him the invitation to chat with them about God and relationships. He says that the bus can be the best place to have those conversations because they are away from their usual social groups and there aren’t as many distractions. They have time to think and talk through things as they bump along on the bus.
When you hear about how much he cares about these kids, it’s clear that Tom Grant is not just a bus driver for Berean. Tom Grant is a mentor and teacher. He’s someone you can trust. He’s a listener. And he is all of those things while driving a bus.
Tom has no plans to go anywhere else in the coming years. This year, he was given the opportunity to coach the golf team, and he loves it. He is grateful to be in a place where he can earn a living while living out his values. “I’ve got the coolest job in the world.”