CINCINNATI — First Student and the National Safety Council are teaming up to encourage safe bus behavior during back-to-school season and beyond with the nationwide Safety Dog Bus Tour.

“First Student and the National Safety Council share a common mission to serve as advocates for making the world safer, working to keep safety always front of mind for our employees and the communities we serve,” said First Student President Dennis Maple. “There is a great deal of trust placed in First Student and our drivers. It’s important that we all work together to ensure the safety of our school children, and we’re excited to deliver important safety messages for back-to-school in a fun and memorable way.”

The seven-city Safety Dog Bus Tour reaches out to elementary school students and their parents. Children will learn safety tips as they get a chance to sign a safety pledge and “Walk the Yellow Carpet.” They also can meet and have a photo taken with Safety Dog, the safety mascot for First Student. Parents can see firsthand how First Student buses are designed for safety inside and out.

The Safety Dog Bus Tour kicks off Aug. 20 in Schaumburg, Illinois, and continues to Cincinnati, Ohio; Wichita, Kansas; Lewisville, Texas; Corona-Norco, California; New Castle, Pennsylvania; and Jericho, New York.

“Like millions of parents across the country, I put my children on a school bus each morning, knowing that they will arrive at the destination safely,” said Deborah Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. “First Student’s Safety Dog Bus Tour provides parents a more intimate look at the big yellow school bus — the very best option for transporting our most precious cargo.”

Parents, teachers and students can find tour dates, times, locations, safety tips and downloadable activities by visiting safetydogbustour.com. Safety tips and tour updates also can be found by following First Student on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The National Safety Council will share updates on Twitter and Facebook as well.

For parents, teachers and students who want to engage in the conversation, the hashtag #SafetyDogBusTour will be used on all platforms.