Walking WednesdaysSupporting walking and biking to and from school promotes the health and well-being of our students. We realized that we could do something positive for our students in 2012 when we observed that almost no-one walked or biked to St. Albans City School. Instead students took the bus or personal vehicles for transportation. Since St. Albans is one of the few Vermont towns with sidewalks almost everywhere, and with the bulk of the student population lives within a mile of school, this situation was puzzling. We decided to try and change that transportation mindset in 2013.
After outreach and assistance from Abbey Mattera of the Vermont Safe Routes to School organization, we initiated a walk to school program in October of 2013. We ended up holding a half dozen supervised walks in that first school year. Because they were such a success, we decided to increase the number to sixteen or seventeen Walking Wednesdays each of the following school years. Our goal then and now is to hold at least one Walking Wednesday per month except in October and May when we walk every Wednesday. While the majority of our students continue to arrive by bus and car, there are many students who walk and bike to and from school daily. It is no longer odd doing so. And, many children, and their parents, love the supervised walking school bus program. Link to Bicycling Page Link to Bussing Page |
Walking Wednesdays
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Following one walking school bus
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Stewardship Walking Wednesday
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ARTICLES ON STUDENTS AND STAFF THAT WALK TO SCHOOL
A GIRL WITH GRIT - TARA DITCH