Five-year-old Xavier Booker lives outside Baton Rouge in a city named Carencro, USA Today reported. For safety reasons, the school district has a rule that if a child is under a certain age, bus drivers must wait until the student makes it to their home before pulling off to continue the route. After Chad Desormeaux overheard the kindergartner tell his peers he’s the “fastest kid alive,” he challenged him to show off his athletic skills, which turned into an everyday race from the school bus doors to his driveway, located only a few houses down.
“We sit there and we watch him run home that way to make sure he makes it into a driveway,” Desormeaux said in an interview with USA Today. “The faster he runs, the faster we can take off. It became a game.”
On Dec. 1, 2023, with the permission of Xavier’s parents, the bus operator recorded a video of him racing home. In the clip, Desormeaux asks, “Are you ready, Xavier?” to which he responds, “Uh huh.” Then before opening the the bus doors, he asks him to “give me a thumbs up.” He turns around with a big smile and raises his thumb. As soon as the bus doors opened, he took off down his street. The camera then turns to his classmates, who are looking out the windows of the school bus to see their schoolmate run as they root for him.
@chaddesormeaux Xavier is a Kindergarten student that wants to be the fasted kid alive! Everyday on our bus. When I get to his stop, all the kids run to one side of the bus to cheer him on! #heartwarming #louisiana #busdrivers #fyp
The video now has over a million views and has caught the attention of lots of people, including Star Athletics, an elite track club that trains runners and works with top athletes like U.S. Olympian Sha’Carri Richardson, who he had the pleasure of meeting. The owners, Olympic Medalist Dennis Mitchell and his wife coach Damu Cherry-Mitchell, were so impressed they invited Xavier, his family and Desormeaux to Orlando to enjoy a day at Disney World. They were also gifted tickets to an Orlando Magic basketball game.
“It was so much fun,” Xavier’s mother said. “We went to Disney World. I mean, they just showed us so much love.”
Desormeaux is no longer a bus driver as he was only temporarily driving to help out the school district since they were low on bus drivers; he now sits on the District 2 school board. He’s happy to have met Xavier during his time as a bus operator as the two have developed a tight bond.
“He might be the fastest kid right now, but I think he could be president one day,” he said.
