October 4, 2006
Walk to School Week is October 2 - 6, 2006. During that
week, parents, caregivers, faculty, staff, and children are encouraged
to walk to school together as many days as possible. Wednesday,
October 4th is specifically designated Walk to School Day.
Public health, safety, education and elected officials are urged
to take part
in the event.
Walk to School Day is the first important step
in changing your school’s environment to make it safer for students
to walk and bike to school on a regular basis. Its main goal is to raise
the awareness of this important issue. Additional goals of Walk
to School Day are to:
- Encourage adults to teach children safe pedestrian behaviors
- Have adults help children identify and practice safe
routes to school
- Create and/or raise awareness of how walkable a community is
(or isn’t) and where improvements are needed
- Remind everyone of the tremendous health benefits of
regular, daily walking
- Share valuable time with local community leaders,
parents and children
This is a national movement. The Partnership for a Walkable America,
a coalition of health, safety and transportation organizations interested
in promoting safe and accessible walking for all Americans, sponsors the
international Walk to School Day event. Members include
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Safe Kids
Campaign, the US Department of Transportation, the Institute of Transportation
Engineers, the Campaign to Make America Walkable, and the National Safety
Council.
This is a fantastic way to get children physically active. 78%
of children fall short of the recommended minimum dose of physical activity
(30-60 minutes a day with 20minutes of vigorous exercise). 35% of children
watch 5 or more hours or more. One in five children and one in three teens
are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. These rates reflect a
50-100% increase from just 10 years ago.
The SC Coalition for Physical Activity and the SC Department of
Transportation are sponsoring a statewide promotion of Walk to
School Day. We have the goal of registering
200 elementary and middle schools on our website to host events on Wednesday,
October 4th, 2006. It is our goal that 100,000 children will
participate in Walk to School Day! Please register your
school today!
If you have any questions, please contact Amy Splittgerber, Executive
Director of the SCCPPA at (803) 798-9086 or by email splittae@dhec.sc.gov
Membership
Register