Motorists and school bus drivers alike may have noticed more schoolchildren walking yesterday morning than usual. October 8 was International Walk to School Day, and many districts throughout the U.S. encouraged their students to participate.
“Integrating exercise into everyday life creates a lifelong commitment to physical activity, plus active kids are healthier and do better in school,” said the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.
According to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, the U.S. launched the event in 1997, and now more than 40 different countries participate each October.
Many school districts employed creative ideas to encourage student participation. For example, Creekside Elementary School, part of the Boulder Valley School District in Colorado, brought out C.W., the mascot of the city’s “Heads Up: Mind the Crosswalk” campaign. C.W. led a “parade” of almost 40 who walked, biked or rode a scooter to school.
In North Carolina, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx walked with students from Cotswold IB Elementary School in Charlotte.
“I know there have been some accidents here in Charlotte with students trying to get to school, and we wanted to come here and highlight good practices when it comes to walking and to helping promote it across the country,” he said, later adding that the event is not only about kids walking to school, but also learning to do it safely.
“We don’t teach walking like we teach driving or something else, and that’s what safe walk to school day is all about,” Foxx continued. “It’s about adults and kids learning together about the best practices and sharing those practices across the country.”
In Southern California, about 3,000 students from 14 schools across Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Hermosa Beach hoofed it to school yesterday in a Walking School Bus as part of the Beach Cities Health District’s Blue Zones program.
