Last month, Linda Rapacki and Bastu Betty Cleland from RideWise collaborated with Turf, Surf & Earth in Somerville to provide employment and transportation skills training for students in Jan Carr-Jones’s School to Employment (STEP) class at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
The day began with Linda and Betty showing students where to board the Somerset County SCOOT 860 bus to Turf, Surf & Earth from Bridgewater. They flagged down the bus, paid their fare, and paid attention to where they needed to exit.
Once at Turf, Surf & Earth, owner Mackenzie Salazar and the amazing staff gave the students a hands-on employment experience on what it takes to run a successful restaurant. The students spent time wiping down tables, refreshing holiday decorations, brewing coffee, juicing limes, making Falafel and sauces, taking orders, serving guests, collecting money, making change, and many other behind-the-scenes activities.
After their employment experience at Turf, Surf & Earth, the students walked to the Somerville Train Station before catching the NJ TRANSIT 114 bus to the Bridgewater Commons Mall. Linda and Betty showed the students how to use the MyBus feature while waiting for the bus and how to board and deboard the bus correctly.
Closing out a successful day of travel training, Linda and Betty engaged the students in safe pedestrian safety skills on the walk from the Bridgewater Commons Mall back to the high school.
Travel training from RideWise is available to any school located in Somerset County. To learn more, contact staff@ridewise.org or visit the TransitConnect page on our website.
