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.
