DP News

February 7, 2010

First-time bus riders

By Sarah Hite shite@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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Four-year-old Zachery Rager couldn’t wait to take a ride on a school bus.

Zachery, of Harveys Lake, said he was excited to get on a bus for the first time because, unlike a car, a bus has no seat belts.

Zachery and 13 other soon-to-be kindergarteners at Lake-Noxen Elementary School had the opportunity to take a ride on a school bus without their parents on Feb 3.

The bus ride was part of the Lake-Lehman School District’s Kindergarten Readiness Program. The program is meant for children entering kindergarten during the upcoming school year and for their parents.

Four segments are held during the current school year at each of the elementary schools to prepare the children and their parents for kindergarten. Activities are provided for both the parents and the children “to instill a sense of comfort and familiarity for their first elementary experience.”

Topics covered include nutrition and health readiness, reading and math readiness and bus safety. Pre-registration materials are also distributed.

Sandy Dobrowolski, transportation coordinator for Lake-Lehman, and Lori Kucewicz, a kindergarten teacher at Lake-Noxen, led the children outside of the school while the parents stayed behind to pre-register. Despite being apart from their parents, none of the youngsters cried.

Before allowing the students on the bus, Dobrowolski reviewed bus safety with the children. The children were shown yellow flashing lights and red flashing lights and were instructed not to begin to walk toward the bus until they see the red lights. They also learned to stay in front of the yellow stop arm that comes out in front of the bus so they are visible to the driver.

The children then got on the bus and sat two in a seat for a ride around Harveys Lake.

Rylie Bucknavage, 5, took a seat next to her friend, Faye Post, 4, whom she knows from Sunflower Sprouts Learning Center in Harveys Lake. It was a first school bus ride for both girls, who also both live in Harveys Lake.

“I’ve been on a bus before, but not a school bus,” Faye told Rylie. “It didn’t have seatbelts, either, but my mom and daddy rode with me so I didn’t fall off.”

Rylie said she liked the bus because of its windows.

Kucewicz led the children through several verses of the song “The Wheels on the Bus.” Not long after they finished the song, the children asked if they could sing some more.

Kucewicz also pointed out things such as ice on the lake, a man fishing and road construction.

Faye wanted to know why ducks were out on the lake in the middle of winter.

“What are they doing out there?” she asked. “It’s so cold. And they put their heads under water.”

In response to Faye’s comments, Rylie said, “One time I put corn in there and they ate it and they thought it was fish.”

“That’s the funniest thing I ever heard!” Faye replied, obviously amused.

Belle Boice, who drove the bus, thinks the bus ride is a good idea to help preparechildren for kindergarten. Boice’s granddaughter, Lanie Weaver, was one of the children on the bus.

“It’s not so scary when the bus rolls up to the stop (on the first day of school),” Boice said.

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