A local initiative is helping young children be a little bit less intimidated by the school bus come September.
Chatham-Kent Lambton Administrative School Services (CLASS), along with local school bus operators will host “First Time Rider Orientation Day" on August 17.
The program helps ease kids into riding a school bus for the first time. According to Kent Orr, general manager for CLASS, the transition into taking the bus can be a stressful one for both children and parents.
"School buses are very large so something that parents might find and the youngest riders might find, is that it's a big step up," he said. "If you're coming from just riding in mom and dad's car, getting on a school bus is a big change."
Safety trainers will be on-site to talk to students and parents about basic school bus safety rules including how to ride the bus, how to wait at the bus stop, and how to navigate the safety zones around the school bus. Orr said they will also be giving kids the chance to ride a bus in hopes of getting them more comfortable.
"We do a video program that's about 15 minutes in length. It's age-appropriate...goes through safety messaging," Orr explained. "[Then we] do a little bit of a walk around a school bus, let them touch and feel it... then we take them on the bus and take them for a little short ride on the bus just to get some experience."
Orr said the target audience is parents with young children in junior kindergarten - Grade 1. The orientation day is free, requires no pre-registration and is drop-in style. It takes place at Ursuline College in Chatham with another one happening simultaneously at the Lambton Kent District School Board Education Centre in Sarnia.
Sessions will begin at 9 a.m. and run continuously until 12 p.m., which each session lasting about 30 minutes.