LPS hosts bus decorating contest for Christmas

Michelle Gridley doesn’t consider herself to be Grinchy toward the holidays, but the green man with the Santa hat and pointy shoes recently helped put her in a better mood.

Gridley’s Grinch-themed school bus was the winner of the Lawton Public Schools Transportation Center bus decorating contest Wednesday.

“I just thought it would be a good theme,” said Gridley, who made her bus run in her Grinch costume. “The kids love it.”

Gridley said she already had the outfit, which she got for her grandchildren. Since she had some Grinch memorabilia around the house, it was natural for her to turn her school bus into the Grinch Mobile, as the letters on the dashboard proclaim.

“I like Christmas,” she said. “My mom died at age 52 and that was her favorite holiday.” Gridley said she likes decorating and does a lot of crafts.

The inside of the bus looks like a shrine to the grouchy, ill-tempered cliff dweller of Dr. Suess’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Grinch wrapping paper and red and green garland adorn the inside. Gridley made a green wreath for the back door. On the outside, a stuffed toy Grinch is attached to the grill. Even the steering wheel sports a Grinch theme. Gridley said it took three days to decorate the bus.

“I only bought the lights, I had everything else,” she said.

Second place went to Melody Tucker-Smith, who was dressed as Mrs. Claus. Her bus resembled a Christmas present with bows and wrapping paper attached to the ceiling. She said this is her first year to drive for LPS, but she did something similar when she drove a bus in Louisiana.

“I just did it (this year),” she said. “I asked him (Jay Hunt, director of LPS Transportation) if we were allowed to decorate the bus. I had a blast.”

She said the students enjoyed being driven to school by Mrs. Claus.

“They said, ‘Oh, we get Mrs. Claus today. Good morning, Mrs. Claus,’” she said.

Third place went to Esperanza Macias and her monitor Lulu Martinez, who created a Christmas village on the dashboard. Macias said she puts up a Christmas village at her house every year.

“I saw that big empty space,” she said of the dashboard. “I ran it by Lulu and we decided to throw it together. Lulu got a fire lit under her so our stuff just kept growing.” “Throwing it together” meant they spent a couple of hours for two days after their bus run creating the village.

Macias said the village, which is nestled in mounds of “snow,” is secured with Velcro and Scotch tape. Lights are looped throughout the display.

“Oh, my gosh, the kids love it,” she said. She said she loves watching their expressions when they see the village. She said the goal was to make the bus cheerful for the kids.

“It makes it merry and bright,” Martinez said. She said she wanted students to know about the Christmas spirit. “I wanted them to know the Christmas spirit is coming.”

Hunt said that every year a few bus drivers decorate their buses for the holidays, so this year he decided to make it into a contest.

“It’s a morale booster,” he said. “It brings the staff together for a common cause. The kids think it’s great.”

He said one driver bought a generator to run the Christmas lights on their bus so it wouldn’t use fuel.

“That’s pretty dedicated,” Hunt said.

Teresa Jackson, executive director of Secondary Education, and Lesa Sparks, executive director of Elementary Education, served as judges. Winners received Sonic gift cards