Calif. school bus driver celebrates 44 years behind the wheel

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. - A California bus driver is celebrating quite a milestone after being behind the wheel for 44 years. 

Elizabeth Rose Summers, known affectionately as Ms. Betty, knows how to skillfully navigate a 40-foot bus, safely transporting her middle school students each day. 

"I wanted to be a teacher, but we had five children in the family and one brother and he was the one that got to go to college," the 78-year-old recalled. 

Ms. Betty eventually married a serviceman, and together they had three children and lived around the world. But, once she and her family moved back to the states, she decided to become a bus driver. She knew whatever interaction she shared with the kids, she'd be able to impart her own way of teaching. 

"You can be whatever you want," she said. "You've got to put your mind to it and do your grades." 

Among Ms. Betty's notable students includes NBC's Lester Holt. 

"I haven't seen him since he graduates, but he did very well." 

Ms. Betty said it's the kids' happy faces that gets her out of bed each and every early morning.