Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Our Bus Driver: Canoe Maker and Amazing Person and Teacher

Bill Collett, the man who I call, "The Man, The Myth, and The Legend" was spotlighted in our local new channel. Bill Collett is our bus driver for our ELP program that I teach. Bill is retired from education after serving for many, many years as the outdoor director education teacher for our district. With budget cuts, the program ceased to exist as do many field trips and amazing opportunities that he created and organized.

We are lucky enough to have him as our mode of transportation. He picks up all the students for our 4th and 5th grade ELP classes and brings them to the middle school for class. Many bus drivers would just relax, take a nap, and not enjoy the hour to themselves. With Bill, he comes to class and really serves as another educator in our classroom. His infinite wisdom and way of thinking and processing elevates our learning atmosphere and we are lucky to have him.

With all that being said, he is an outdoor guy. He has traveled, canoed, backpacked, etc. all over the world. He has amazing stories and rarely is there a former student who does not have a fond memory of him from his travels and field trips. Fran Riley of KWQC news contacted Bill about doing a feature on his canoes. Bill builds these from scratch by hand in his garage. They are amazing. They are beautiful. I will have to get some pictures that he has taken so you can really grasp how amazing his craftsmanship really is.

Yesterday, the news segment was on the TV. I wanted to share it with everyone because I think it is important to spotlight all the amazing people that we have in our communities. If you did not know Bill personally, you would never know of his amazing skills. He is not one to brag or even bring up what he is capable of achieving. This is why he is a perfect example for our youth.

Here is the news segment.
http://www.kwqc.com/category/231919/video-landing-page?clipId=7900938&autostart=true


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