Students choose two legs instead of four wheels

From pre-schoolers in strollers to high schoolers, hundreds of students in the Monroe County Community School Corporation participated in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday morning.

This was the third year the MCCSC has been a part of the International Walk to School Day, with increasing excitement each year, said Jennifer Staab, MCCSC healthy schools coordinator.

Staab said certain area schools have a better infrastructure to allow walking than others, but overall many students and parents participated.

The initiative was meant to spark interest in students and parents alike about physical fitness and the benefits of walking to school.

A little less than 11,000 students use the MCCSC bus system, said John Carter, MCCSC director of planning.

“I think the weather played a little part in the turnout today,” Carter said. “But we’re also trying to change the culture.”

Carter remembered when students walked to school every day, whereas now students are used to getting a ride from mom or dad, he said.

“We’re doing this because it’s healthier for the kids, and it’s becoming increasingly more expensive to transport kids via school bus,” he said, “so if we can convince parents and students to walk, then it becomes healthy for them, environmentally healthy and it’s fun walking to school with your friends.”

Volunteers and parents helped make the trip safe for students, Staab said.
However, with the rainy weather, some schools chose to wait until Thursday morning to have the walk so they can do a group exercise together with students and teachers, Staab said.

MCCSC is also trying to set up a new program to encourage walking daily so parents who cannot walk their child in the morning will still be able to let their child walk with other volunteers.

“We are trying to set up a bus route but without a bus, and we walk instead,” Staab said. “It would be a walking school bus with a  different volunteer each morning and everyone would know what time the walking school bus goes by their house.”

Tom Norris, administrative assistant at Edgewood Primary School, said he thinks the walk to school day was a success.

Every bus student was dropped off at a farther location than the school and teachers met the students at the location and walked them over, Norris said. Upon arrival at the school, teachers and volunteers gave water bottles, pencils and stickers to the students.

“We’re not having a walk home because of the distance and the infrastructure right now, but we are working on improving that,” he said.

Melissa Henige, member of the Bloomington Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, said Bloomington and MCCSC work together to create better infrastructure and a more walkable, safe area for students.

There is a meeting at least once a month where MCCSC members, other teachers, parents and city planners come together to figure out issues, Henige said.

“We get 100 percent funding through the federal government so we have some money to provide a structure to our plans to improve the city and make it a safer and more pleasant walk to school,” she said.