Peaceful Bus Program Promotes Respect at Knapp

Respect for administrators and classmates doesn’t stop once students leave the front doors of the school.

It continues and is enforced on the big yellow school bus.

“There are rules in the school, and all the kids know the rules,” said principal Joe Mazza. “When they go out on the buses – and depending on the skill set, there may be inconsistencies – they are bridging the school rules from school to bus.”

The school held a Peaceful Bus Program for most of the day Thursday; it enforces anti-bullying and respect for the school bus driver and school bus rules.

The program is an offshoot of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.

“We support the bus drivers, who are the persons in charge of safety,” Mazza said. “Respect goes door to door – from the time they leave the door to the bus stop to the time they get home.”

From the gymnasium to nearly every classroom, students and their respective bus drivers were engaged in cooperative learning.

In Sara Heckman’s kindergarten room, students of Bus 4 were paired up to learn about one another; there were older students with younger students, and girls with boys.

They shared their similarities and differences, be it loving “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “Jersey Shore” or having the same number of siblings.

“Anybody know why we did this?” asked mediator Kelli Albertson, fifth grade teacher. “So you know who you all are, and if they get into trouble, you have a good response to them. If you see somebody being bullied, it’s easier if you know their name to help defend them.”

Physical education teacher Barry Sayers was running a program in the gymnasium for students of Bus 73, driven by Mary DiMartino.

He had students walk on the lines of the gymnasium floor in a musical chairs-style activity, and the students often intersected with and walked into one another.

“Listen well. Watch where you’re going,” he said. “Stop and wait for people.”

When the music stopped, the children stopped walking.

“I love it. Two students were walking right toward each other. They were looking at each other. They didn’t know what to do. They kind of nodded and they both turned,” Sayers said. “Sometimes, you don’t know people on the bus with you. Sometimes you have to talk to each other, to communicate to get along.”

Sayers was always reinforcing the students’ good behavior.

“Remember, not to touch people if you come up to somebody. We always keep our hands to ourselves on the bus,” he said.

Sayers said riding a peaceful bus is all about “making it work.”

Sayers and DiMartino reviewed six main rules of the Peaceful Bus: the first letter of each one spelled out the word “Safety.” For instance, Stay seated at all times on the bus and Always respect others, the bus and yourself, and Flinging things out of the bus is not allowed.

“Ms. Mary was following a bus a couple weeks back and some kids in the last seat threw a bottle out the window,” DiMartino told her students. “It hit my windshield. What can that do? It can cause the bus to crash. It’s not people wanting to cause a crash, but when you do it, bad things happen.”

Sayers told students that they have to care about one another.

“Talk quietly (on the bus). No hurtful words. We don’t need to talk about bullying; we know there’s no bullying at Knapp,” Sayers said. “We don’t disrespect. We care about each other on that bus. That’s just like Knapp School. Ms. Mary, she’s a part of Knapp School.”

Marianne Cleary, director of transportation services for the district, hoped the Peaceful Bus program would roll out to other schools.

“The first thing this is teaching is safety and cooperation and bus rules,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s to prevent bullying behaviors and actions on buses that create unsafe situations.”

Cleary said the district’s philosophy is and has always been the school bus is an extension of our classroom.

“The driver is just as important as a teacher, and needs the respect of children, just as a teacher,” she said.

Do you remember your bus driver? Most of you may remember the big rear view mirror above them that captured everything going on behind their backs.

“That’s why it’s even more important to understand that unsafe behaviors can be very, very serious,” Cleary said. “Every time they look in the mirror, they are taking their eyes off the road. With 72 kids behind you, it’s important for the driver to stay focused.”

She said there is a lot of demand, responsibility and even some defensive driving that goes into being a bus driver.

“It’s a huge responsibility,” she said. “Drivers have an amazing, amazing responsibility.”

DiMartino said Mazza is great with dealing with the students when it comes to bus safety.

“On the bus, he’s very concerned about what’s going on. He’s always asking,” she said. “There is a very good connection.”

The recurring program is doing its job, as DiMartino said she gets a lot of support from Knapp Elementary.

“I feel like I’m respected,” she said, “and an integral part of the system.”