Young riders to learn about school bus safety this week

Aug 14, 2023 | 10:53 AM

Kindergarten and Grade one students throughout central Alberta, as well as their parents, will have the opportunity this week to learn more about safely riding the school bus at the annual First Rider Event.

The program is free to attend and based in five central Alberta communities.

Coordinators from the transportation departments of five school divisions have worked together to create and run the event together. The divisions include Chinook’s Edge, Red Deer Public, Red Deer Catholic, Wolf Creek and Wild Rose School Divisions, along with Prairie Bus Lines.

READ: First Rider Program returns to prepare central Alberta students for school bus travel

Participating children will start by watching a video of Winnie-the-Pooh as he rides a school bus for the first time. Officials say they will then learn about safety priorities at the bus stop, how to conduct a safety evacuation and discover the ‘danger zone’ around the bus where incidents are most likely to occur. Finally, children and their parents will be able to hop on a school bus for a 10 minute ride, and learn about loading and exiting the bus correctly.

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“The First Rider program has been successful each year since it began in 2009, giving young people a better understanding of safety just in time for school start-up,” said event officials in a release.

First Rider will be offered from 3 – 7 p.m. on the following dates and locations:

Red Deer & area – August 15: École Secondaire Notre Dame High School parking lot
Olds & area – August 16: École Deer Meadow School parking lot
Lacombe & area – August 17: Gary Moe Sportsplex
Rocky Mountain House & area – August 23: West Central High School / St. Dominic High School
Drayton Valley & area – August 24 Frank Maddock High School

For more information, see the First Rider brochure here.

by rdnewsNOW Staff

Young riders to learn about school bus safety this week

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