Mid-Prairie Transportation Director Teresa Hartley received the 2020 Iowa Woman in Transportation Award during a surprise award ceremony in the high school’s auditorium on Tuesday morning.

The award was presented as a surprise to Hartley, who said she was told to expect a press meeting regarding school lunches. Her family was informed beforehand but agreed not to spoil the surprise.

“It’s just shocking, I was trying to figure out how many lunches I’d served this summer so I knew what to tell the media,” Hartley said. “Then I walked in and saw my son’s head and realized this wasn’t a meeting about school lunches.”

Hartley is the fifth recipient of the award, created in 2016 by the Iowa Pupil Transportation Association in honor of Holly Hoglund Klein, the late president of Hoglund Bus and Truck Company. It seeks to “recognize an Iowa woman who demonstrates outstanding dedication to the school transportation industry,” according to the plaque of recipients.

Hartley has a reputation for going the extra mile at Mid-Prairie. According to several notes submitted during the nomination process, she initiated the first district-wide bus evacuation drills, rerouted a district bus plan in under two months and hosted monthly breakfast meetings with district bus drivers.

Alongside the title of Mid-Prairie’s transportation director for three years, Hartley served as a long-term substitute last year and a bus driver herself for the last two.

“I just want to thank everybody,” Hartley said after receiving the award. “I couldn’t do it without all of you… without your help and your support, we wouldn’t be here.”