North Allegheny students create bus driver job search campaign

A tiger in the tank? How about a tiger behind the wheel?

Students at North Allegheny Senior High School participated in a recent marketing and social media campaign called the Drivers 4 Tigers Bus project to help the district find school bus drivers for next school year.

The project, or “#Drivers4Tigers,” gave juniors and seniors in North Allegheny a chance to help solve a real-life district need of recruiting bus drivers, according to Chris Sestili, who teaches business courses at the high school.

The project was part of the high school’s business communication curriculum this past spring. In addition to using social media, the class learned about advertising, marketing and public relations.

“As a business teacher of 25 years, it was great to see the kids apply the curriculum to a real-life business situation. Their creativity, excitement and engagement for this project was great. They used teamwork and thought about how to have the biggest impact on the NA community,” Sestili said.

The project was a collaboration among NASD human resources, the transportation department and communications department, along with the business, computer, and information technology departments, according to school district spokeswoman Brandi Smith.

Smith said the goal was to give students a real-life glimpse into what it’s like to work in business communications. They got a real business challenge, a project brief and a behind-the-scenes look into the transportation department.

Corrin Johnson, a junior, said he enjoyed working on the project with the team and in Sestili’s business communication class.

“We were able to create and connect with our local community in an effort to support North Allegheny Schools. It was a very interesting and unique way to learn lessons that will last a long time. Working so closely with the transportation department, getting to know upper administration, and gaining knowledge and real life experience was priceless,” Johnson said.

The students’ creative recommendations were reviewed by the NA departments involved, which provided feedback. Then the campaigns posted the students’ creative work to the district’s social media pages.

Campaign analytics showed Facebook and Instagram posts generated the most reach, impressions, and engagement, while LinkedIn posts sent more traffic to the NASD Transportation website. Traffic to the transportation section of the NASD website was higher the week of May 1-5 than Jan. 1-April 30, Smith said. The campaign ran from April through mid-May.

Drivers, mechanics, and members of the Transportation department hosted the class on a mini field trip, said Howard Cervone, of the transportation department.

“The project helped the district distribute communications out on the real need for bus drivers. There is a national shortage of bus drivers and all school districts have felt the impact,” Cervone said.

Chelsie D’Amico, manager of talent acquisition and staffing at NA, said the campaign helped with analyzing the way to reach potential candidates.

“While there were not any direct applicants from this campaign, we were able to gain key insights on what content may have resonated more with potential future drivers,” D’Amico said.

The student materials may be used as flyers in the summer and will be used in the district’s ongoing recruiting efforts, including an open house July 13 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. at the transportation building on 400 Hillvue Lane.

The district is posting positions through its website. Starting salaries for substitute school bus drivers is $19.50 per hour and full time at $22.66 per hour.