For This Zum Driver and Trainer, Special Needs Children Have ‘A Special Place in My Heart’

Gina Contreras spends most of her time behind the wheel: In the mornings, the Santa Barbara, CA-based Zūm school bus driver and trainer transports children to school. Later, she might take a class on a field trip. After the school day ends, she drives them back home.

So, when the weekend rolls around, what does Contreras like to do?

“It’s funny, but me and my husband go for drives,” she says. “We’ll just get up and go to L.A., San Diego, Temecula … just wherever the car takes us. And if we end up late, we’ll get a room and just stay the night.” 

Contreras’s passion for driving is matched only by how much she loves working with children with special needs and their families. 

“Most of them don’t have voices for themselves, and so I like to be there for them and make sure they’re taken care of,” she says. “I want them to feel comfortable and be able to trust me to get them to school safely and back home and not have to worry.”

In addition to her regular routes, Contreras helps with wheelchair and equipment training and other safety instruction. She is also studying to be a behind-the-wheel trainer.

“Special needs just has a special place in my heart,” she begins, then pauses. “I’m sorry. It gets me emotional. I just love the kids. … You build a friendship with them.”

Contreras began working at Zum last year, when the company launched its partnership with Santa Barbara Unified School District. 

“Gina has been a great addition to the team, helping in every way she can,” says Eddie Romero, Senior Manager at Zum. “Currently, she is in our training program to become a certified behind-the-wheel delegate, allowing her to do what she loves: training people how to drive students.” 

“I love the friendliness of the staff, and I love what I do,” Contreras says. “I do it because I know that help is needed. And it’s just my heart to help others.”

Later today, Contreras says she will drive a class to the Santa Barbara Pier for a field trip. (“I get to enjoy the view of the beach while I wait,” she says.) This weekend, she and her husband may travel to see their grandchildren, or they may visit somewhere new. 

“I drive there,” she notes, “and he drives home.”