It’s another sign of fall arriving: First the back-to-school commercials, then the school bus safety presentation.
About a hundred elementary school students, mostly going into kindergarten and Grade 1, turned out at Notre Dame High School on Tuesday to learn the ins and outs of how to safely ride a school bus.
Prairie Bus Lines officials showed the youngsters a Winnie-the-Pooh safety video, and had the kids get into the bus for a short trip around the neighbourhood.
Since some young children hadn’t ridden any kind of bus before, the annual presentation “helps ease nerves and prepares kids and their parents,” said Kerri Kenworthy, operations manager for Prairie Bus Lines.
“We tell them the safety rules, where to stand, how to ride a bus and sit properly in seats. A bus is really an extension of the classroom for students.”
Safety tips include knowing “safety zones,” such as waiting by the bus’s door, so the children are visible to the driver. And once kids are dropped off at their stop, they are advised to wait for the school bus to leave before trying to cross the road, to ensure they have clear sight lines of traffic, said Kenworthy.
Evacuation procedures were also presented in the rare instance a bus needs to be vacated.
Scott Humphrey, transportation co-ordinator for Red Deer Public Schools, said “It can be pretty daunting, especially for little ones… when the big yellow bus pulls up.” He feels it’s important for them to run through the procedures before the first day of school.
By the time these youngsters “jump onto the bus with 60 other kids,” they should know their safety zones and loading and unloading protocols, he added.
Kenworthy considers this annual school bus safety presentation a back-to-school rite of passage: “It’s kind of exciting for the kids… Once they have their pens and paper, it’s another check box.”
Prairie Bus Lines operates about 200 school buses in central Alberta, from Didsbury to Wetaskiwin, Nordegg to Stettler, and deals with many school divisions, including Red Deer Public and Catholic Schools, Chinook’s Edge, Wolf Creek, Wildrose, and East-Central Catholic Schools.
Tuesday’s presentation in Red Deer drew mostly city students, but also some kids from Chinook’s Edge and Wolf Creek.
Other 3 p.m. presentations are happening on Wednesday at Deer Meadows School in Olds, Thursday at the Gary Moe Sportplex in Lacombe, and on Wednesday, Aug. 23, at West Central High School/ St. Dominic High School in Rocky.
Classes start on Aug. 31 for Red Deer Public and Catholic School students.
