Teresa Kats: Driving the Community’s Students

This post is part of the Lynden Schools Staff Spotlight series

Every morning before Teresa Kats pulls her Lynden Schools bus out of the garage at Fisher Elementary School she says a prayer. Kats knows the importance of her job, the responsibility of serving as a bus driver for Lynden Schools. 

The Role

Now in her 32^nd year, Kats drives students daily, “transporting the world’s most precious cargo to and from school,” she says. 

“We are often told we have the hardest job in the district,” Kats says. The drivers must constantly remain on alert for other traffic, load and unload students safely and ensure everyone remains seated and rides safely. All these tasks are on top of the already consuming requirements needed while driving an oversized vehicle. 

Getting to Know Teresa

When Kats isn’t in the driver’s seat of a Lynden Schools bus, she’s often on a saddle. She works with her husband and adult kids to raise black angus beef cattle and hay, but also enjoys riding and showing her AQHA gelding, Joe, in ranch riding and reigning events. 

“I’m a farm kid from Ferndale,” she says. “I grew up on a potato farm, Ebe Farms, which my brother has now. I love that Lynden is still, for the most part, an agricultural community. I’m pretty passionate about ag.” 

She’s passionate about ag, but more importantly, she’s meticulously passionate about student safety.