Interview By Michelle Carter Smith
Todd Williams is the Transportation Director for the Corbett School District and his job involves a variety of responsibilities.
*Knowledge of all ten Corbett bus routes and checking the safety on all of the routes in bad weather.
*Knowing most all of the bus-riding students by name
*Mechanically maintaining all 13 buses and two vans owned by the district and certification to perform all bus inspections
*Overseeing management of the bus riders, including student safety and student behavior
*Overseeing all bus drivers and interacting with the entire staff of the school district
The furthest bus stop for the school district is just past Bonneville Dam at the Cascade Hatchery at the Eagle Creek exit. One of the "extra" buses will eventually have all seats pulled out and be used as a moving van to transport items to the new Corbett Middle School on Woodard Road. Todd will work with a few high school students on how to prep an old bus for recycling.
Todd was born in North Portland and is the fourth of five children born to his parents who were married for 55 years. His mom passed away two years ago and his dad is retired from Boeing and now lives in Fairview. All of his siblings live locally except his sister who just moved to Georgia. Todd grew up near both sets of grandparents and they were a strong support to his family in many ways. As a youth, his family moved several times but always stayed in the Portland area. Both his grandfathers had a strong work ethic and shared that with Todd when he was able to work at different times with each of them. Todd's father also had a very strong work ethic. As a kid, Todd was a bit of a rascal but was motivated to work hard and graduate from high school. In the middle of Todd's sophomore year, his family moved to Corbett, which was closer to Boeing, and gave his mom the country life she always wanted. In 1994, the family made the move to Corbett, staying 3 years. Todd graduated from Corbett High and was named Prom King and his girlfriend, Carrie Evans was the Prom Queen. They ended up dating for six years and then married. After graduation, Todd worked at Multnomah Falls at the espresso cart. One day while splitting wood with a friend, he was offered a new job as a shop gopher at Evergreen Waste Systems, located in Washougal. It later was bought out and became Waste Connections. While working there, Todd decided to go back to school and further his education for future job opportunities. He attended Mt Hood Community College and then transferred to Portland State Univ. to complete his bachelor's degree in psychology in 2006. He then went on to earn his master's degree from Pacific University in 2008. He majored in counseling psychology with an emphasis on cognitive-behavioral therapy with an emphasis on children and adolescents. He continued to work the entire time he attended school! Todd said his wife Carrie was his "solid rock of support" that helped get him through. Todd and Carrie started their family once he completed all of his schooling. They have two children, both attending Corbett, and Carrie also works for Corbett School District. Sayvin is 14 years old and a freshman who enjoys both soccer and electronics. Evanly is 11 years old and is a social butterfly who just loves people. After completing his master's degree, Todd worked as both a counselor and a mechanic simultaneously for nearly two years and it was simply too much to carry both jobs. The best choice for his family at the time was to choose his job as a mechanic. He worked from 1998 until present as a heavy equipment mechanic. Dorthy Hayden let him know in 2016 that Allan Greathouse, the previous Transportation Director for Corbett, was about to retire. It seemed like a great opportunity since Todd had recently become certified with Western Bus Sales to inspect Oregon school buses. Todd was hired and really enjoys his job with the district because he gets to use his mechanical skills as well as his many years of schooling to learn how to best work with kids and their families. He also conveniently lives just down the road from the bus garage!