The 7th-grade boy stopped the bus, which was on its way to Surprise Lake Middle School, when its driver became incapacitated.
Jeremy Wuitschick, who was travelling on the bus said the driver let go of the steering wheel and started flailing his arms.
He said: “[The driver] looked funny. His eyes were bulging and he was sitting back and his hands were kind of just flapping around uselessly.
“I just went up, grabbed the wheel and turned it right and took the keys out of the ignition.
“And, yeah, the bus stopped. It was pretty scary.”
He added: “My principal said that I’m going to get free snacks [from the school snack bar].”
John McCrossin, director of student programs for the Fife School District was driving behind the bus when he saw it turn off to the side.
He ran onto the bus when it had stopped and found the 43-year-old driver unconscious and not breathing.
The kids had already called 911, so McCrossin performed CPR on the driver until police and medics arrived and he was taken to St Francis Hospital nearby.
Watch the moment Wuitschick became a class hero here: