Dwight Miller has been working with special needs kids for nearly 20 years, driving the school bus for the Cedarburg School District in Wisconsin, and although he retired this year, his contribution to the community has been acknowledged in recent weeks.
Recently he was selected for the "The 97-3 NOW Difference Maker Award" for his work as a special needs' bus driver.
Additionally, his neighbor, Susan Grosskoph, nominated him for the "Be A Good Neighbor Contest" and as a reward, she won a private hometown screening of "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" on July 23, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The mayor declared the day of the screening as Dwight Miller Day, something which took the bus driver by surprise.
"I didn't know that was coming at all," Miller said, according to the Journal Sentinel.
What makes the bus driver so special to the community is his kindness and patience, which he demonstrated in heaps while driving special needs kids to and from school every day and volunteering with Friendship Ministries and as a Big Brother in Big Brothers Big Sisters.
"Bus driver doesn't describe what Dwight did and the impact he made every day," Grosskoph said, according to the Journal Sentinel. "Parents knew their children were in the best hands when they left for school and when he returned them home."
Grosskoph recalled how Miller would wait for the students who "just couldn't quite get going in the morning," and how he would sing songs on the bus and also serve the role as mentor from behind the wheel.
He recently retired so that he could move with his wife to Ohio to be closer to their son and grandchildren, but his legacy lives on in Cedarburg.
"His dedication to community is second to none," the school district said in a post to Facebook. "He will be missed by many!"
The job of a bus driver and the responsibility that it carries is often downplayed yet often they are the unsung heroes on the frontlines.
Last month a Milwaukee bus driver demonstrated an act of kindness when he helped a blind man find his way across the street when road construction made him vary his route.
And last year school bus driver Harry Mangol became a hero after saving a Pittsburgh area high school student who stopped breathing.
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