Safe Routes to School

Reason

• Healthier Children: In 1969, 40% of students walked or biked to school. By 2001 only 13% of children walked or biked to school. As a result, kids today are less active, less independent, and less healthy. Regular physical activity helps kids build strong bodies and minds.
• Better academic performance: Peer-reviewed studies suggest that regular physical activity boosts academic achievement.
• Cleaner Environment and Less Traffic Congestion: As much as 20 to 30% of morning traffic can be generated by parents driving their children to schools.

Goals

• Provide a central clearinghouse with activities and materials to promote walking and biking for parents, teachers, and administrators in Shawano County (the National Center for Safe Routes to School is an excellent resource)
• Work with other schools in Shawano County and the Sustainable Schools Initiative to develop policies that encourage students to walk and bike
• Work with physical education and other teachers to incorporate walking and biking into lesson plans (the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin has developed some sample curriculums for teaching walking and biking for a range of ages)
• Identify safe walking and biking routes around elementary and middle schools and develop action plans for increasing the number of kids walking and biking to those schools
• Install bike racks at most schools
• Survey students and parents annually to determine whether the Safe Routes to School program is influencing walking and biking rates