{"id":2921,"date":"2021-07-07T16:24:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T23:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/?p=2921"},"modified":"2022-05-10T17:50:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T00:50:45","slug":"opta-conference-welcomes-attendees-back-in-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/opta-conference-welcomes-attendees-back-in-person\/","title":{"rendered":"OPTA Conference Welcomes Attendees Back In-Person"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text]After a year and a half of canceled in-person events, state pupil transportation association conferences are ramping up this summer, including the Oregon Pupil Transportation Association (OPTA) conference held last month. <span id=\"more-59866\"><\/span>\n\nThe OPTA Summer Conference was held June 28-30 and consisted of four keynote speakers. Max Christensen, the state director of pupil transportation in Iowa, and Sheryl Harley, a senior survival factors investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, discussed what happens during a major school bus crash investigation. Other keynote speakers included author Karen Main as well as writer and comedian Jan Mclnnis.\n\nDuring the event, board members awarded the 2020 and 2021 awards, as last year\u2019s event was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.\n\n<strong>2020:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Golden Wrench Mechanic\/Technician Award: Mark McGahan, Klamath Falls City Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver of the Year: Eddie Dixon, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>Transportation Supervisor of the Year: Mitchell Hamilton, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver Trainer of the Year: Laura Salsky, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Buck Klemm Special Needs Transportation Award: Colleen Light, Tigard-Tualatin School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award: Michael Shields, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award: Randy Schetky, Schetky Bus &amp; Van Sales<\/li>\n \t<li>Administrative Support Award: Jennifer Carmichael, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Oregon Department of Education \u201cBig Wheel Award\u201d: Janice Briggs, Oregon Department of Education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<strong>2021:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n \t<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n \t<li>Golden Wrench Mechanic\/Technician Award: Bob Dulmage, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver of the Year: George Johnson, Sherwood School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Randy Schetky Transportation Supervisor of the Year: Cindy Kirby, Warrenton-Hammond School District<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver Trainer of the Year: Brian Clark, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>Buck Klemm Special Needs Transportation Award: Eric Stein, Sherwood School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award: Kathy Calkins, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Administrative Support Award: Carmela Thomas, Sherwood School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Oregon Department of Education \u201cBig Wheel Award\u201d: Tim Iba, Oregon Child Development Coalition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2922 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/image4.jpeg?resize=225%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/>\n\nAlso, during the conference, OPTA President Chris Ellison honored Eric Pearson, a territory manager for BraunAbility, and Randy Schetky, president of Schetky NW Bus Sales, as both died unexpectedly in the past year.\n\nSchetky\u2019s sons Dave and Chase accepted the 2020 Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award on behalf of the family. The OPTA Board of Directors also renamed the 2021 Transportation Supervisor of the Year award to the Randy Schetky Transportation Supervisor of the Year Award in his honor.\n\nIn addition, Ellison swore in the new OPTA state president, Sandi Miller from Sherwood School District near Portland.\n\n\u201cWe had a very successful conference and trade show, given the continued impacts with COVID-19,\u201d Ellison said.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"et_pb_section et_pb_section_0 et_section_regular\" >\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_row et_pb_row_0 et_pb_row_empty\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"et_pb_module et_pb_text et_pb_text_0  et_pb_text_align_left et_pb_bg_layout_light\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>After a year and a half of canceled in-person events, state pupil transportation association conferences are ramping up this summer, including the Oregon Pupil Transportation Association (OPTA) conference held last month. The OPTA Summer Conference was held June 28-30 and consisted of four keynote speakers. Max Christensen, the state director of pupil transportation in Iowa, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"After a year and a half of canceled in-person events, state pupil transportation association conferences are ramping up this summer, including the Oregon Pupil Transportation Association (OPTA) conference held last month. <span id=\"more-59866\"><\/span>\n\nThe OPTA Summer Conference was held June 28-30 and consisted of four keynote speakers. Max Christensen, the state director of pupil transportation in Iowa, and Sheryl Harley, a senior survival factors investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, discussed what happens during a major school bus crash investigation. Other keynote speakers included author Karen Main as well as writer and comedian Jan Mclnnis.\n\nDuring the event, board members awarded the 2020 and 2021 awards, as last year\u2019s event was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.\n\n<strong>2020:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n \t<li>Golden Wrench Mechanic\/Technician Award: Mark McGahan, Klamath Falls City Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver of the Year: Eddie Dixon, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>Transportation Supervisor of the Year: Mitchell Hamilton, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver Trainer of the Year: Laura Salsky, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Buck Klemm Special Needs Transportation Award: Colleen Light, Tigard-Tualatin School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award: Michael Shields, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award: Randy Schetky, Schetky Bus &amp; Van Sales<\/li>\n \t<li>Administrative Support Award: Jennifer Carmichael, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Oregon Department of Education \u201cBig Wheel Award\u201d: Janice Briggs, Oregon Department of Education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<strong>2021:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n \t<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n \t<li>Golden Wrench Mechanic\/Technician Award: Bob Dulmage, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver of the Year: George Johnson, Sherwood School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Randy Schetky Transportation Supervisor of the Year: Cindy Kirby, Warrenton-Hammond School District<\/li>\n \t<li>School Bus Driver Trainer of the Year: Brian Clark, Salem-Keizer Public Schools<\/li>\n \t<li>Buck Klemm Special Needs Transportation Award: Eric Stein, Sherwood School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award: Kathy Calkins, North Clackamas School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Administrative Support Award: Carmela Thomas, Sherwood School District<\/li>\n \t<li>Oregon Department of Education \u201cBig Wheel Award\u201d: Tim Iba, Oregon Child Development Coalition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<img class=\"size-medium wp-image-2922 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/image4-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/>\n\nAlso, during the conference, OPTA President Chris Ellison honored Eric Pearson, a territory manager for BraunAbility, and Randy Schetky, president of Schetky NW Bus Sales, as both died unexpectedly in the past year.\n\nSchetky\u2019s sons Dave and Chase accepted the 2020 Ron Bryan President\u2019s Award on behalf of the family. The OPTA Board of Directors also renamed the 2021 Transportation Supervisor of the Year award to the Randy Schetky Transportation Supervisor of the Year Award in his honor.\n\nIn addition, Ellison swore in the new OPTA state president, Sandi Miller from Sherwood School District near Portland.\n\n\u201cWe had a very successful conference and trade show, given the continued impacts with COVID-19,\u201d Ellison said.","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/REO21_ScrollingGraphic_Web.jpg.webp?fit=672%2C451&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2921"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3219,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2921\/revisions\/3219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stnexpo.com\/west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}