Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – Warren County School District third graders got a lesson in bus safety during a presentation at the Warren Area High School auditorium on Monday, the first day of National Bus Safety Week.
National School Bus Safety Week began Monday and runs through Oct. 21. BusPatrol representatives were joined by School Resource Officers to give the district’s 287 third grade students a presentation about bus safety and bullying.
“This week is National Bus Safety Week and we always like to have a message of awareness for our kids,” WCSD Transportation Manager Mike Kiehl said. “Certainly, the BusPatrol coming in and giving us a presentation was very welcomed. That’s the most important cargo that we haul, and we’re always looking out for our kids’ safety.”
See Kiehl’s full interview:
The BusPatrol team distributed activity books and presented a brief, animated video reminding children of the rules around school bus safety.
“Most of the people here at BusPatrol have kids and school bus safety is important to each and every one of us,” BusPatrol Chief Product Officer Dalton Li said. “We’re doing our part from a technology standpoint to make conditions safe for kids, but we want to make sure kids also understand that there are dangers that are around them all the time. So they stop and look around and make sure it’s safe for them to cross.”
See Li’s full interview:
Monday’s presentation was not the first time the district has worked with BusPatrol, as the company was responsible for outfitting the district’s school buses with internal and external cameras.
“This is just a starting point for us,” Li said. “We are the only provider in the school bus safety field that provides full fleet coverage and the reason why is because we want to invest in communities to make the environment safer, to make the ride to and from school safe for every single child. In order for us to do that, it’s not just putting technology in place, but it’s creating the awareness and continuing to build on that technology.”
Following the bus safety presentation, SROs and Warren County Sheriff’s Deputies Chris Riche and Josh Warmath spoke to the students about making good choices and what to do when they encounter bullying.
