Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

The Livingston Educational Service Agency and Howell Public Schools have been honored by the National School Public Relations Association with a 2026 Gold Medallion Award for the countywide bus driver recruitment campaign, "Join the Team that Drives the Future."

According to LESA, NSPRA's Gold Medallion Awards program is the only national awards competition that specifically recognizes comprehensive, strategic school public relations programs. Annually, fewer than 15% of entries receive this distinction.

The "Join the Team that Drives the Future" campaign was a comprehensive marketing and public relations effort designed to address critical school bus driver shortages across the member districts of the Livingston ESA Regional Transportation Collaborative.

Under the leadership of LESA Communications Specialists Caton Walter and Megan Kelley and Howell Public Schools Director of Communications Thomas Gould, APR, with support from each member district, the multichannel campaign included earned media, paid advertising, in-person recruitment events, and social media outreach, according to a release.

The campaign marked the first time RTC member districts pooled resources to recruit new school bus drivers through a unified effort.

It generated more than 90 interest form submissions and resulted in the hiring of more than 30 drivers across the consortium's five member districts. LESA said these efforts significantly reduced route cancellations caused by driver shortages and improved transportation reliability for students and families.

“It has become increasingly difficult to find school bus drivers, leading to route cancellations and interruptions in service,” said Dr. Michael Hubert, superintendent of Livingston Educational Service Agency. “To address this challenge, Livingston ESA, Howell Public Schools and the other districts in the Regional Transportation Consortium came together to develop a collaborative recruitment campaign that approached bus driver recruitment in a new and refreshing way.”

“We are incredibly proud and honored to receive the NSPRA Gold Medallion Award for our countywide bus driver recruitment campaign,” said Dr. Erin MacGregor, superintendent of Howell Public Schools. “This recognition reflects the creativity, dedication and collaboration of the communications professionals who brought this campaign to life. Livingston ESA communications specialists Caton Walter and Megan Kelley partnered with Thomas Gould, APR, director of communications for Howell Public Schools, to lead the comprehensive campaign. Together, they utilized multiple strategies and tactics to address the critical need for additional school bus drivers throughout Livingston County. As a result, RTC districts hired more than 30 new drivers, helping provide more reliable transportation services for families.”

The judging process for the NSPRA Gold Medallion Award occurs in two phases, according to LESA. First, entries are evaluated by experienced, award-winning, accredited communications professionals on their use of strategic communications best practices, clarity of concept, quality of writing, and overall creativity.

Entries that advance are then compared with others in the same category and judged on their overall excellence, level of superiority, and ability to serve as a model that other school districts can replicate.