SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A new in-service training program has been released to help Head Start drivers and monitors foster safety consciousness and maintain positive attitudes.

The Pupil Transportation Safety Institute (PTSI) and the National Head Start Association collaborated on the curriculum, dubbed “Attitude Matters,” which is the second in their series of Head Start training programs.

Jim Ellis, primary author and director of research and instructional design at PTSI, said the in-service is intended to “help Head Start drivers and monitors take a fresh look at how their own attitudes can help or hurt their serious duties.”

Recognizing the myriad challenges that pupil transporters face every day on the job, such as communicating with difficult people and managing children’s behavior, the program provides a periodic “battery recharge” for drivers and monitors.

The training package includes:

• A 160-page trainer’s guide with an introduction to the curriculum, lesson plans for each unit and overhead transparency masters.

  
  

• A CD with PowerPoint presentations.

  
  

• Ten 46-page trainee workbooks, each with a color trainee certificate.

  
  

• The 18-minute training video “If Buses Could Talk,” which examines how gossip and jealousy among transportation staff can undermine morale and make everyone’s job difficult.

  The training is broken down into four modules, encompassing morale, emergency preparation, special needs skills and defensive driving. Among the specific training topics in the modules are “The Unique Challenge of Loading and Unloading Head Start Children” and “The Importance of the Post-Trip Inspection.”

  To order or find out more about the Head Start in-service training program, call PTSI at (800) 836-2210 or visit www.ptsi.org.