Wilmington bus driver spreads Christmas cheer, decorates school bus for holidays

Kevin Whaley is spreading Christmas cheer, one school bus at a time. Whaley is the transportation coordinator at Beacon Education, formerly the Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington.

He said he's been decorating his school bus for more than 16 years, as long as he has been driving them. He decorates the bus every year for Halloween and Christmas and estimates he's spent around $1,000 on decorations over the years.

Whaley said the students were thrilled when they saw the decorations.

This year one of the students said, "You did say you were going to decorate the bus, but I didn't expect all this."

The students want him to leave the decorations up all year round, Whaley said.

"When I tell them the Halloween [decor] is coming down they always tell me 'no don't take them down,'" Whaley said. "So I always remind them the Halloween decorations have to go to make room for the Christmas lights, and they like the sound of that and start to ask a few days later when I will start decorating for Christmas. Then when I tell them the Christmas decorations will come down over the break they always ask why can't we leave them up all year."

Whaley said the students are really enjoy the lights when they're waiting for the bus in the morning when it's still dark out. He said the lights really stick out. Not only does the bus light up the neighborhood in the mornings, but it also plays Christmas music.

"Some of their reactions are priceless," Whaley said.

He said he does it for the students' enjoyment and is happy to continue the tradition so the students have something to look forward to each year.