Walk and Roll to School Day
October 7
Join us on October 7 when children all over the nation and world will celebrate walking and rolling to school. It’s our big Walk and Roll to School Day of the year. Rain or shine! The Mary Hogan Class with the most participation wins the coveted “Muddy Boot Trophy” and students who participate regularly all year by turning in their punch card in June are eligible for a special prize. Follow us on #middsaferoutes and learn ways to get involved at walkbikeaddison.org.
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Middlebury Safe Routes recognizes students who participate in Walk and Roll to School Days on the first Wednesday of the month with cheers from “the Yellow Banana” and volunteers passing out mood pencils, stickers or reflectors at Mary Hogan School. We place colorful lawn signs in the school zone reminding drivers to slow down for a safer town. We teach that it’s important to keep visible–to use reflectors on bright colors and know that yellow is easiest to see from a distance (hence, the cheering Banana!) and gray is hardest, because you look like the road. We encourage formation of “bike trains” and “walking school buses” from neighborhoods. We love all the ways kids can roll to school–on bike, scooter, skateboard, roller blades, bus–and having them dropped off at remote points (sports center, shopping plazas) and walking in to relieve traffic congestion in front of schools. We practice the rules of the road taught in each April’s bike skill lessons embedded in PE classes with the reserved Local Motion trailer of 30 bikes kids can try to improve balance, braking, gear shifting, signaling turns and more. We promote the many benefits of walking and biking to school. It enhances health (kids arrive at school exercised and alert for classes), reduces traffic, improves air quality, deepens commitment to neighborhoods, builds independence and helps test for safe routes.