Cowan named Staff Member of the Year for transportation

Employees in the transportation department with Madison City Schools voted Dahlia Cowan as Staff Member of the Year. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Dahlia Cowan is Staff Member of the Year for Madison City Schools’ transportation department.

With 27 years of experience, Cowan is lead bus driver for West Madison Elementary School. As lead, she collects data from five other drivers and completes monthly reports.

Cowan disperses news from meetings with transportation specialist Bobby Jackson and intercedes when a driver is absent. Her route includes Bridgefield, Reserve Way, Oakstone, Park Meadow and Mill Creek Crossing neighborhoods.

“People ask, ‘Have times changed? Have children changed?’ Their toys have changed, but children want to be loved. They’re all precious,” Cowan said.

“Occasionally a student will make a card, color it and write, ‘You are an amazing bus driver. Thank you for bringing me and the other children home safely,'” Cowan said.

Drivers must stay calm and never get in a hurry. “Keep your eyes and mind on what’s going on outside the bus, and keep your mind and ears open to what’s going on inside,” she said.

“I enjoy driving the bus,” Cowan said. “I treat students with respect. In turn, they respect you. They know I love them.”

When a dispute does occur, Cowan works to resolve it. “If it’s a problem inside the bus, I deal with it inside the bus,” she said.

However, she did consult West Madison Principal Dr. Daphne Jah last year. “Two sweet kindergarten girls drew beautiful pictures of trees and flowers on the back of two seats. They even signed their artwork,” Cowan said.

Jah called their parents, who wanted the girls to clean it themselves. “The girls came on the bus wearing adult-sized rubber gloves. They scrubbed hard,” Cowan said.

Then, the parents made the girls write notes promising they would never do it again. “It was a learning experience,” Cowan said.

While living in Zachary, La., she directed traffic and worked at a preschool, recreation center and fast-food restaurant. Jimmy and Dahlia Cowan moved here 28 years ago. He retired as a heavy equipment mechanic.

Their sons are Greg and Kory Cowan.