Bike/Walk to School
The First Wednesday in October each year is International Walk/Bike to School Day
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October 4, 2023
Walk to School Day celebrates the joys of walking and opens the eyes of students, families, schools and community leaders. This started in 1997 and has become part of a movement for year-round safe routes to school.
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Plan an event at your school!
The Safe Routes to School program has lots of resources to host a fun and safe event. It takes a champion at the school for a successful day! DETAILS HERE
Why Promote Walking and Bicycling to school?
Communities use the walk or bike to school day as the first step to change community culture and create environments that are more inviting for everyone, young and old. Here are some reasons to support walking and biking to school:
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To enhance the health of kids: Increased physical activity can combat a host of health problems facing kids today.
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To improve air quality and the environment: Replacing car trips to school with walking or bicycling can help reduce air pollution.
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To create safer routes for walking and bicycling: Sidewalks, education programs and traffic calming measures are some of the ways to improve conditions.
Past Walk/Bike to School Events in Pueblo West
Pueblo West applied for a few Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Grants to provide off-street paths for kids to walk or ride to school. Pueblo West coordinated with PACE and applied for an Education and Encouragement grant for monthly walk/bike events and the production of the SRTS safety videos.
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The trail behind Sierra Vista Elementary was funded by a SRTS grant. The program also utilized soft surface trails leading to Pueblo West High School and Skyview Middle School.
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Watch Video of Skyview Middle School International Walk to School Day
70 kids walked (only 5-10 normally) and 98 rode bikes (only 2-4 bikes normally) to school!
53 students walked/biked over 2 miles one-way, 18 students over 3-miles one-way to school!
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This map was created to highlight routes kids should use to walk or bike.
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Adult volunteers were posted at each "T" roughly every 0.5 mile at roadway crossings to make sure kids were safe and hand kids a raffle ticket.
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Some kids took the long way to school hitting more "ticket Ts" for more chances to win prizes.
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Parents were invited to walk/bike with kids or just promote students walking with a buddy for more fun and safety.
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Prior to October Walk/Bike to School event, students:
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Watched a series of locally produced educational videos demonstrating the rules for safer walking and bicycling on our community roads and how to use and share multi-use trails safely.
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Provided a water bottle with the rules of the road and how to safely share trails (grades 2-6, plus other interested students in high school).
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Took a walking tour of the nearby trails with the new Pueblo Area Bike Route map to learn more direct routes and safer options for getting to school instead of using heavily traveled roads.
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Were strongly encouraged to walk or ride with at least one buddy or ask parents with more flexible schedules to volunteer and walk/ride and help promote safety. Bike Train routes will be shown on the map for kids to join and have some adult supervision on the way to school.
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Were taught each person is responsible for themselves, for following the rules of the road and staying safe.
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Were taught to wear a properly fitting helmet every time they ride and to pack a bike lock to secure their bike at school.
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Sierra Vista Elementary Walk/Bike to School Days - 2011-2012
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The red lines on the map are the paths used to get to SVE the first Wednesday of each month. Santa Claus handed out candy canes on the path in December when it was 22 degrees and 80 kids still walked!
Skyview Middle School Walk/Bike to School Days - 2011-2012
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The school boundaries encompass the entire maps so kids were encouraged to use the red paved trail or the green/highlighted dirt trails along powerline utility easements.