She is the first morning smile of middle and high school students – sometimes still sleepy – who board her bus. After two months of vacation, Héléna Caron enthusiastically returned to the wheel to find “her little ones”, the regulars on her school bus tour. But also the new ones like Arthur, a 6th grade student at Saint-Jo, in Morlaix, as shy as they are surprised to find a smiling young dark-haired woman? as a driver.
License D at 22 years old
This profession, the 34-year-old Garlannaise, mother of three children, fell into it at the age of 22. “I’ve always liked driving because you never get bored on the road. From college, I was sensitive to the way my driver drove and I have a sister and an aunt who are drivers: it made me want to maneuver a big guy too. »
So she set herself the challenge of passing the D permit: “At the time, if you might justify 1,600 hours of temporary work, you might be financed for training as a coach driver. So she spent 18 months in the factory, then followed three months of professional training (driving, going over the Highway Code, mechanics, legislation, public relations, etc.) at the ECF driving school in Landivisiau.
A profession that is becoming more feminized
Upon leaving, Héléna Caron was hired by the Rolland-Réseau Océlorn coaches in Plouigneau. In this very masculine world, “which is gradually becoming more feminine and younger” (the company now has six women out of 32 drivers), the young woman has been able to find her place gently. “At first, I had thoughts, but the feedback has been very positive! You have to put yourself in the world of men, it teases nicely, but I enjoy working with them. And if everyone is the only master on board, Héléna appreciates “the solidarity and mutual aid between colleagues”.
So what in this new school year 2022 is school transport facing? to a shortage of drivers, the mother on an following-school contract (7:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.; 3:30 p.m. – 5:40 p.m.) finds advantages and a balance with her private life. “I do what I love, I have all the holidays, Wednesday followingnoons and weekends… And you have to see my children’s pride in having Mum as the bus driver during school outings! »
Patience and good humor
Not to mention that on the lines she has been providing for years, her kindness and good humor have created special ties with young people. “You have to know how to do it because it’s an audience of teenagers, there’s the group effect… Some people take more than a year to greet me, but I’m patient. I’ve always had the idea that you have to be cool but not too cool, set an example to be respected, remember the instructions for cleanliness. »
A zen attitude that the children give back to her: following picking up the high school students, “rather calm, in their world, headphones on their ears”, she finds her happy band of schoolboys from Guerlesquin. “The atmosphere is lively and family-oriented, the whole group knows each other. They tell me regarding their day, their holidays, their loves and their worries… It’s cute! “, assures Héléna Caron. Who, half-driver, half-confident, still receives years later via the networks, news of those she has seen grow up from the rear view mirror of her bus, on lines 40 and 42.
