It’s Fun to Learn on the Fun Bus Run

Head Start and Early Head Start staff and management attended pre-service week from July 19th through July 23rd at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus.

The Fun Bus Run Roundtable was featured on Thursday, July 22nd and was designed to provide field staff with the basic tools to build an educational foundation for children riding the school bus.

Debbie Parshall, Family and Community Partnership Supervisor developed the Fun Bus Run Roundtable with the assistance of Harry Metz, Transportation Coordinator and Sam Lape, CDL School Bus Driver to promote children and adult interaction during bus runs.

Sam Lape, CDL School Bus Driver, piloted the extension of the classroom to include the school bus by utilizing many of the interactive tools on his own bus runs at the Nemacolin Head Start Center each school day during the program year.

Head Start and Early Head Start staff departed from Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus and began their journey into the world of fun and learning.

The Conductor, Sam Lape, instructed everyone that they are now riding the Head Start train to a destination only limited by their imaginations.

Passengers did utilize their imaginations and described to the Conductor the many different things that one could see during a real train ride. The Conductor led the passengers with songs associated with trains such as, “Down By The Station”, “Little Red Caboose” and “Engine On The Track”.

The Conductor then transformed the train into an underwater submarine and the passengers were once again challenged to describe the wonders associated with a voyage under the sea. The Conductor again led the passengers with songs associated with water such as, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Tugboat”.

The Conductor challenged the passengers to describe the many wonders that they observed while riding in an airplane, a wagon, a spaceship an even a school bus.

During the journey on the school bus the Conductor asked the passengers to count how many red, yellow or green cars they passed. Passengers were also asked to locate shapes and numbers along the road.

Another feature of the journey was the “Joke Of The Day”. Passengers presented their best “Knock, Knock Joke” or “What Do You Get Joke” (along with many other types of age appropriate jokes).

The Conductor continued to impress the passengers with his very colorful bag that was filled with child type fruits and vegetables and another colorful bag with numbers and letters.

The Conductor also displayed age appropriate signs with the month, day and year along with other signs that displayed weather symbols.

Needless to say, the journey ended and all of the passengers were surprised that time had passed by so quickly.

The Conductor thanked everyone for riding on the Fun Bus Run and the passengers all clapped their hands and praised the Conductor for a job well done.

If you need information on how to enroll your child into the Head Start or Early Head Start programs, call 1-800-876-2138 or 724-430-4818, extension 114 and ask for Joyce Mounayar, the Family and Community Partnership Manager or leave a voicemail. Please remember to leave a phone number so that we can return your call.

Albert Gallatin South Middle School