Schools Encourage Students, Parents to Walk to Campus Wednesday

Health, fitness and learning safe routes to school are among the reasons area elementary schools plan to take part in National Walk Our Children to School Day on Wednesday.

The Health Team at is busy planning its participation in the event while keeping the success of its own spring walk to school day in mind, said Health Aid Roxi Seipel.

“Our walk was such a great community building event and such a big hit that we decided to do the national walk this year,” Seipel said.

Planning the walk day is a bit more challenging at Sequoyah because most of the 820 students in kindergarten through fifth grade take a bus to school. Organizers are encouraging parents to drive their students to school on Oct. 5 and staff will join them at the corner of 23 Mile and Middle River Drive to walk the rest of the way to the school.

“We are encouraging parents to walk with us, too,” Seipel said. “It’s really just about encouraging our kids to get out there and start moving.”

There are 550 students in kindergarten through fifth grade at , and most are considered walkers even though many parents choose to drive their children to school, said . 

New to Mohawk this year, Gardner was pleased to have his school sign up to take part in the walk to school event.

“I actually got a flier about this in the mail and approached our gym teacher, Sue Phelps, about participating and we all thought it was a great idea,” Gardner said.

Busy promoting the event to students and their families, Gardner said they are hoping for a good turnout.

“This is a way to promote health and fitness and maybe see the parents saving some gas,” Gardner said. “And we want parents to participate, too. It could be a great way for them to spend an extra few minutes with their kids just walking here that morning.”

Getting parents, students and even community leaders involved is how Principal Sally Klatt is approaching her school’s first-time participation in the event.

There are 660 students at Beck Centennial in kindergarten through sixth grade and a majority are considered walkers. 

“We have two buses but many students ride their bikes to school and we have a lot of school of choice students too, so their parents drop them off,” Klatt said.

To add emphasis to the event, Klatt said the school is tying the walk day to its physical education program and making it part of the ongoing safe route to school program.

In 1997 Chicago was the site of the first National Walk Our Children to School Day, according to the website www.walktoschool.org. By 2002, children, parents, teachers and community leaders in all 50 states joined nearly three million walkers around the world for International Walk to School Day. The reasons for walking included concern for safe and improved streets, healthier habits and cleaner air.