One of Donna Nielsen’s biggest fears came to life a few days ago more than 800 miles away in Midland City, Alabama, where a gunman stormed a local school bus, shot and killed the driver, and continues to hold a 5-year-old student hostage.

Nielsen, who lives in LaPorte, Indiana, located about 50 miles from Chicago, has been a school bus driver for 27 years and has always worried that something like this would happen to her or one of her colleagues.

That’s why, several months before the deadly shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut sparked a national debate about creating safe and secure learning environments for students, Nielsen began hounding her district to pull together a training to help bus drivers prevent and respond to emergency situations.

Continue reading Donna Nielsen’s inspirational story, and leave a comment on her profile!