Mass. Walk & Bike to School Day a Success!

There was a fantastic turnout on May 2 for the annual celebration of Massachusetts Walk & Bike to School Day.  The rain held off as over 300 Dolbeare Elementary School students—about 80% of those eligible—and their parents, siblings, grandparents, and more made their way to the Dolbeare on bike or foot.  Spotted on the walk were pet dogs, Nibbles the Guinea Pig, and even a pet bunny.  The students were excited to get their prizes and help count the totals to see who won the Golden Sneaker Award.  Andrea Cosentino’s class earned the award, and can thank their teacher who joined the walk and helped push the tally up one point to first place.  Coming in second was Suzie Harte’s class, and Janet Livesey’s and Karen Swales’ classes tied for third place. 

Physical Education teacher Maria Caruso joined the Lowell Street Walking School Bus as a special guest walker, armed with large stickers for the students to wear after they wrote some of the great reasons to walk such as “Good for your heart,” “Make friends” and “Save gas.”

Many hands came together to help make this event a success, including Principal Beth Yando; event co-organizers Sherri Carlson and Maria Caruso; custodian Ken Malonson; and teachers Ann Corbett, Paula Curley, Jo-Ann Frechette, Jennifer Gallant, Jan Danca-Thompson, JoAnne Kenny, Andrea Cosentino and Suzie Harte plus building sub Cathy Wensley, who together helped man the sign-in table, give out prizes and cheer on the students with colorful pom poms. Kara Showers, Grant Coordinator for the new, five year Community Transformation Grant “Mass in Motion” also came by to welcome the students and lend a hand.

Mass. Walk & Bike to School Day May 2, 2012

Celebrate Massachusetts Walk & Bike to School Day on May 2
The Dolbeare Elementary School will be celebrating the many benefits of walking and biking to school on Wednesday, May 2. Massachusetts Walk and Bike to School Day is organized by the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program.

The celebration is based on a simple idea—children and parents, school and local officials walking to school together on a designated day. It is an energizing event, reminding everyone of the simple joy of walking to school, the health benefits of regular daily activity, and the need for safe places to walk and bike. Schools focus on health, safety, physical activity and concern for the environment.

MassRIDES states in their website www.commute.com/schools: “In 1969, roughly 48% of students bicycled or walked to school. Today only 13% of children do so. And, travel to school can account for up to 25% of all morning traffic. That's why we work with schools like yours, to teach and inspire children to start walking and bicycling more often—to and from school, improving their physical health, safety, and community.

 “The Massachusetts Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program promotes healthy alternatives for children and parents in their travel to and from school. It educates students, parents and community members on the value of walking and bicycling for travel to and from school.”

The opportunity to receive free incentive prizes, guidance and numerous resources was made possible by partnering with MassRIDES to run a Safe Routes to School Program. The Dolbeare Elementary School partnered with MassRIDES, along with Wakefield Climate Action Project and Wakefield’s School Health Leadership Team to pilot a Safe Routes to School Walking School Bus program in fall 2008. The program proved quite successful—in 2009 it garnered media attention at the local and national levels, including the Boston Globe, Fox 25 News, and Good Morning America. In 2009 and 2010 the Greenwood, Woodville and Walton elementary schools joined the effort and partnered with MassRIDES to roll out programs at their schools.

Please join the Mass. Walk and Bike to School Day celebration on May 2 by safely walking or biking to school that day. You may find you enjoy it so much you will want to walk and bike all year long.

For additional information, visit www.commute.com/saferoutes; and www.wakefieldcap.org.