![](https://blogs.houstonisd.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/02/Cormier-676x1006.jpg)
Mother Rhonda Mayes, right, feels at ease putting her special-needs fifth-grader, LaDainian, on the bus with HISD driver Cynthia “C.C.” Cormier, left. HISD bus drivers safely transport more than 36,000 students to and from school every day, traveling more than 15,000,000 miles annually.
Editor’s Note: February 27 through March 3 is Texas Public Schools Week, and we are celebrating by sharing personal stories throughout HISD on how public education is helping students succeed. Tweet at us @HoustonISD and share how public education is positive force in you or your student’s life, using the hashtag #PowerofPublic.
Rhonda Mayes worries about her son LaDainian and the daily challenges facing the special-needs fifth-grader, who suffers from a disorder that often requires him to use a wheelchair and other medical, social, and emotional supports.
But when she puts LaDainian on the bus for the hourlong trip to Reynolds Elementary, Mayes can relax, knowing her son is under the watchful eye of HISD bus driver Cynthia “C.C.” Cormier and her team.
“She’s been there since Day One,” said Mayes. “She’s got the mothering instinct, and she is just so protective of him.”