Saratoga Foothill School's Playground Pals Bus Stop Helps Students

Foothill Elementary School Principal Joe Bosco and special day class teacher Karen Smyrl are helping students on campus with the Playground Pals Bus Stop program.

PPBS is for children who are having a hard time making friends, Smyrl told student Ivana Luu in a mini interview published in the Saratoga Union School District Buzz newsletter.

"They can go to PPBS. They have bubbles, jump ropes, hula hoops, bowling, Legos, and group games," Ivana wrote.

Bosco and Smyrl also gave a presentation about the program to district trustees during their Feb. 26 meeting, accompanied by a power-point presentation which further described the program as a "bus stop" where students can find fun activities to play with during recess.

The program's goal is to also create a structured atmosphere where students feel welcome and comfortable, one of the slides of the PP presentation said.

"Students are supportive of one another and learn skills that will stick with them for life," another slide said. "Feeling included and special."

The monitors, who are students in fourth- and fifth-grades, wear yellow vests and name tags "because it is good to know someone's name," Ivana wrote.

They also learn leadership skills, empathy and responsibility, the educators told trustees.

"If students need something or someone to play with they look for the bus stop sign and go to it," Bosco wrote about the program in June of 2012 in his school newsletter. "Our trained bus stop monitors then assist them in finding their interest or getting them involved in a game or activity."