When junior kindergarten students mount the stairs of a bright yellow school bus for the first time, it can be a little scary.
To calm those fears, as well as teach kids about bus safety, the Rainy River District School Board and Northwest Catholic District School Board have teamed up to hold a “First Rider” program here Wednesday.
“It is to help ease any concerns first-time riders have about riding the bus, and make it a fun day and them more comfortable on their first ride,” Darlene Madill, the public board’s transportation and communications officer, said Tuesday morning.
By press time this morning, 15 children had signed up for the program, which is being offered for the first time in this area.
Students will meet at Robert Moore School here at 10 a.m., or Riverview School in Rainy River at 3 p.m., for the 40-minute program.
It includes a video, “Pooh’s great bus adventure,” which teaches bus safety procedures, as well as a brief ride on the bus.
“It’s been done in Thunder Bay for the past three years now in conjunction with the Ministry of Transportation,” Madill noted.
She hoped children will have a fun experience, and be excited and looking forward to their first real ride on the school bus.
“In addition to students, it also helps parents by providing the school bus safety procedures they can talk to their children about on how to be safe on the bus,” Madill added.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
