Walking School Bus Summer Sessions Welcomes Treasurer Gina Raimondo Wednesday

The Walking School Bus Summer Session will welcome General Treasurer Gina Raimondo as a volunteer walker on Wednesday, August 6, 11 a.m. starting at Fogarty Elementary School, 199 Oxford Street, Providence.

The Walking School Bus Summer Session, on Wednesdays, brings participating Fogarty Elementary students on summer vacation to a lunch at Harriet & Sayles Park, where they remain to play until 1:45 and are then walked home.  On Fridays the children, after lunch, walk to the Center of Dynamic Learning, 1 Louisa Street, Providence, to participate in a number of classes, before they are walked home.

The Walking School Bus Summer Session is an extension of the Walking School Bus, which provides routes to and from school led by volunteers.  The initiative ensures that each child, living within a mile of the school, who needs to walk arrives on time and returns home safely, even when a family member is unable to walk with him or her.

The Walking School Bus is reducing school tardiness and absenteeism. The program also promotes a positive community spirit as volunteers and school children walk through the neighborhoods surrounding the school.

The Walking School Bus is part of Family Service of Rhode Island’s “Providence Children’s Initiative,” based at the school and providing a comprehensive, collaborative program to improve educational and social development outcomes for children and families in the South Providence neighborhood.

Family Service of RI has invited a number of community leaders to lead the Walking School Bus to raise awareness of the program and to help recruit volunteers.  Anyone interested in volunteering should call 401-331-1350 ext. 3457.

Family Service of RI is a statewide non-profit human service and educational organization.  More information is available at www.familyserviceri.org.

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