Barbara Olt, now age 77, began driving school buses for the district in 1967 and currently serves as transportation coordinator.
A school district can change a lot in 50 years, and the Evesham Township School District is no exception.
Students and staff come and go, schools open and close and new technologies are constantly incorporated into the classroom.
Yet for all the changes throughout the district in the past 50 years, one constant has been district transportation coordinator Barbara Olt.
Olt, now age 77, began driving school buses for the district in 1967 and drove for more than three decades before becoming transportation coordinator in the mid-2000s.
In her 50 years with the district, Olt has watched transportation grow from five buses and five or six employees in 1967 to more than 50 buses and 60 employees in 2017.
Yet to this day, Olt said she’ll still jump in the driver’s seat of a bus if she just can’t find anyone else to take the spot.
“When I don’t have any more people, I can still sub-in. When things get tough, I get right in and make it work,” Olt said.
Coming from one of the township’s old farm families, Olt said she started driving buses as a way to work while still having time to help on the farm.
Olt said driving buses also allowed her to work and raise her four children, who were always home at the same time she was because of her job.
“I just liked the job because I could be with my kids,” Olt said. “When they were in high school, I could watch their sports, I could do things with them, and I could go home to take care of my house.”
Olt said driving buses also helped introduce another nearly lifelong position with Evesham Fire-Rescue, which she officially joined in 1971 and where she currently serves as the department’s battalion chief.
After she started driving her bus, Olt recalls reaching out to the department to learn CPR in case she had to deal with an emergency.
“In 1967, we didn’t have radios or none of that,” Olt said.
With the school year now underway, the ETSD Board of Education at its recent meeting spotlighted Olt and honored her for her half-century of service.
As Superintendent John Scavelli Jr. brought Olt before the meeting’s audience, he jokingly mentioned that Olt began her career with the district when he was just 2 years old.
“You’re full of energy, and I’ll tell you, anybody who has worked in the district or any district anywhere for 50 years — that really says something,” Scavelli said to Olt.
Board president JoAnne Harmon also stood with Olt and recited some fun facts from 1967, including Evel Knievel jumping his motorcycle over 16 cars, Elvis Presley marrying Priscilla and The Monkeys selling more records than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined.
However, Harmon said the “best fact” from 1967 was Olt beginning her career with the district.
Harmon then read a special resolution from the board to Olt into the record, which described Olt’s years as a hard-working and dedicated staff member for Evesham’s schools.
“Throughout Barbara Olt’s 50 years of dedicated service to the board, its students, its parents and its full community, she has always been mindful of the interests of the board and she has worked tirelessly to advance the work of the board’s transportation department,” Harmon said.
For her part, Olt told the audience she just cares about the students and families of Evesham.
“I love my job and I love working for all of you people who support me doing what I do,” Olt said. “Some days it’s tough, some days it’s rough, but most days its wonderful. I love my job. Thank you all.”
