Respect the Bus uses books and activities to teach school bus safety

A school bus safety program founded by former New York state instructor Roxanne Bocyck is rolling out children’s books and activity materials to teach elementary students how to avoid the school bus Danger Zone. The effort arrives during National School Bus Safety Week, when educators and transportation officials are looking for fresh ways to reinforce life-saving habits.

Why it matters: - More than 18 million pre-high school students ride school buses to and from school each day. - The highest-risk moments are often when children approach, board, exit or cross near the bus. - Teaching children to recognize the Danger Zone can help prevent bus-related injuries.

What happened: - Roxanne Bocyck is promoting Respect the Bus, a school bus safety education program built around storytelling, interactive activities and age-appropriate lessons. - The effort is being highlighted as National School Bus Safety Week gets underway. - The program is designed to help children become School Bus Safety Heroes.

The details: - Respect the Bus features Tuffy the School Bus Safety Hero, an illustrated children’s book that introduces school bus safety through characters and storytelling. - The program also includes The Tuffy School Bus Safety Coloring & Activity Book, a 28-page companion workbook. - The workbook includes coloring pages, mazes, word searches, crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blank activities, matching exercises and a school bus safety quiz. - The materials teach children how to board and exit the bus safely, follow the driver’s instructions and behave appropriately while riding. - The lessons also cover kindness, respect, responsibility and looking out for others. - The program teaches children that if they can touch the bus, they are in the Danger Zone. - Students are instructed to stay in designated safe areas and never return to the bus to retrieve a dropped object without following proper safety procedures. - More information is available for the program, educational presentations and ordering details for the books.

Between the lines: - Bocyck brings nearly three decades of experience in pupil transportation and school bus driver education to the program. - She started as a New York State School Bus Driver Instructor in 1995 and later became a New York State Master Instructor. - The program is aimed at making safety lessons easier for educators and transportation professionals to teach and for children to remember. - The approach leans on storytelling because memorable characters can make safety rules stick with young students.

What's next: - Respect the Bus can be used in school transportation safety programs, classroom instruction, library programs, National School Bus Safety Week activities, community safety fairs and family engagement events. - The materials are intended for transportation departments, school districts, school bus contractors, libraries, law enforcement agencies and community organizations serving elementary-aged children. - Bocyck says the goal is to give educators and transportation professionals resources that make school bus safety engaging, memorable and easy to teach. - The program is positioned as an ongoing resource for schools and communities that want to reinforce safe habits throughout the year.

The bottom line: - Respect the Bus is trying to make school bus safety stick by pairing danger-zone lessons with books, activities and storytelling children are more likely to remember.