SMITHFIELD – Montavia Heath, a ten-year veteran with Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS), was named JCPS 2024 Administrative and Auxiliary Services Employee of the Year.
A Johnston County native and proud JCPS graduate, Heath has spent all but seven years of his life there. During that time, his family lived in New York when he was a small child. Once they returned, Heath briefly attended Selma Elementary before going to Cleveland Elementary, then Cleveland Middle. His family moved and Heath graduated from West Johnston in 2014. “I am Johnston County through and through,” he remarked.
After high school, Heath began studying to obtain an elementary education degree. That was due to Ms. Broadway, a teacher at Cleveland Middle. “She is the real reason why I jumped into education,” Heath recalled.
With the school district for 10 years now, Heath began as a bus driver, then went into the classroom as a teacher assistant at West View Elementary. While there, a lot of things came into focus for him. At one point, he was a teacher assistant for kindergarten, and that’s when Heath knew he’d found his niche. Also during his time at West View Elementary, he worked with Lisa Estep, an Exceptional Children (EC) teacher. ”She had a major impact on my life,” he recalled. She was there for Heath while he was working and studying for his degree, and then for his transition to his current role.
In 2019, Heath became the bus coordinator for the Smithfield-Selma area, which consisted of four elementary schools, two middle schools, and Smithfield-Selma High. Heath has gone from overseeing eight bus-only drivers to 33, some of whom have never been involved in an educational setting. When working with new drivers, Heath’s goals are to make sure they’re happy with what they’re doing, they enjoy coming to work, and that they feel supported. “It’s a big deal for me,” he said.
Over the years, Heath has utilized a lot of the strategies learned during his time and training in the classroom to extend to the drivers when dealing with students. “We’re here to get the students to and from school safely each day,” he said. But being a bus driver is not just about transportation. Drivers often function as moms, dads, and nurses to the children they serve, and love them as if they were their own.
Heath still drives buses when needed, which he enjoys because of the student interactions. “I love watching the kiddos grow and flourish,” he said. Anytime he is at one of his schools, he will make every effort to pop in to say hello to the children. He also participates in Read Across America, reading books to them. “They’re great kiddos,” Heath said. “All of our students have so many amazing and unique qualities.”
Receiving the JCPS 2024 Administrative and Auxiliary Services Employee of the Year Award was a big surprise. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have that title given to me,” Heath said.
He sees it not as an individual recognition, but as an acknowledgment of his team’s daily commitment and responsibility to the students of JCPS. The award also reinforces his desire to reach and empower students while instilling bus safety. “I love it so much,” Heath said. “I’m here to make a difference.”
