2451 Baseline Road, Grand Island, NY 14072
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School Bus Safety Poster Contest Winners - Oct. 2011
Left: Sidway & St. Stephen winners, Right: Huth Road winners
Left: Kaegebein winners, Right: Safety Team Members
Jodi Robinson Photos - Click photo for larger view
School Bus Safety Contest Winners from Sidway, St. Stephen, Kaegebein and Huth were treated to breakfast at Tops on Thursday, morning October 27, 2010. The poster contest was part of the District's school bus safety program that includes class room training, emergency bus evacuation and safe crossing procedures. This year's contest theme was: Stand Back from the Yellow and Black. The contest was organized by Mrs. Karen Dallessandro and the Bus Safety Team and was made possible by Tops and store manager Patti Bianco. Bus Safety Team members include: Karen Dallessandro, Barbara Backland, Denise McMahon, Faith Mantione, Amy VeRost, Shawn Benzing, Nancy Heftka and Kathy Jackson.
The students were treated to breakfast pizza, donuts and juice provided by Tops. Each student was also given a Tops cloth bag filled with exciting goodies. 
The winning posters will go on to compete against other western New York schools. WNY winners will then compete at the New York Association for Pupil Transportation state competition in July. The Bus Safety Team would like to thank all of the students, teachers and parents for their support. A selection of posters can be viewed at Tops. Out of the 317 posters that were submitted, the local winners are as follows: Sidway Elementary: Maia Litwin and Casey Walowitz.
Kaegebein Elementary: Joseph Zherebilov, Allyson Bellinger, Jenna Wilkinson, Lucas Pieri and Anna Martin.
Huth Road Elementary: Samantha Hoerner, Elaina Page, Madison Zaccaria, Thomas Fabiano, Sarah Moore and Zachary Caughill.
St. Stephen Elementary: Abigail Sonnenberg.
Bus Garage Safety Program - September 2011
Jodi Robinson Photos - Click photo for larger view
The GISD Bus Garage has a Safety Program every year for all of the elementary students in the district along with the St. Stephen students. The safety committee is a group of bus drivers, that include Barb Backlund, Amy VeRost, Denise McMahon, Shar Goode, Shawn Benzing, Nancy Heftka, Faith Mantone and Karen Dallesandro. Mrs. Dallesandro visits the classrooms, talks about safety and shows a Winnie the Pooh safety video before the students tour the bus and learn safe ways to exit. At the bus garage, the students practice exiting through a window, the back door and a facsimile of the roof hatch. The students of Mrs. Marge Benevento's first grade class at Sidway School, enjoyed their visit on Monday, September 26, 2011.
Bus Garage Educational Field Trip - 2011
Click photo for larger view
As part of New York State education requirements, our Grand Island School District bus drivers are required to have safety meetings prior to the new school year. On Tuesday, August 16, over 70 bus drivers, mechanics, and supervisors had their own field trip and toured Hurtubise Tire Company's Retread Facility.Hurtubise Tire won this year's bid as lowest priced tire provider for the GISD and is the only local retread facility in Western New York. The company has been in business since 1903. GISD Transportation Supervisor Jack Burns has been "going green" for over 27 years with the GISD buses. While other school districts were wasting money on new rear tires, Jack was saving 2/3 of the cost by using retreaded tires that outrun new tires.
The GISD bus drivers are expected to do a pre-trip inspection prior to every run. This included checking their tires for wear, defects, or any other foreign objects in the tires. Seeing how the retread tires were made will help identify a problem that may occur. The GISD buses travel over 650,000 miles each year, in a "green" way, keeping students safe and tax dollars down.
