The city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County have partnered with Chattanooga area elementary and middle schools for International Walk to School Month to promote safe routes to school, encourage healthy activities and strengthen community relationships.
Twelve schools in Chattanooga have organized safe walk to school events for the week of Oct. 12. In the United States, International Walk to School Month is expected to include more than 4,000 events across all 50 states. Walkers from the U.S. will join children and adults in 40 countries around the world.
Walk to School events create awareness of the need to create safe routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, and creating connections between families, schools, and the broader community, said officials.
Parents, teachers, and community leaders will participate with students at these scheduled Walk to School events in October:
School
|
Date
|
Time
|
Starting Location
|
Battle Academy
|
Tues, 10/13/15
|
8:00 am
|
Start at Bessie Smith Hall
|
Brown International Academy
|
Tues, 10/13/15
|
8:00 am
|
Start at Bessie Smith Hall
|
East Lake Elementary School
|
Wed, 10/14/15
|
3:00 pm
|
Walk from school to East Lake Park
|
Hardy Elementary School
|
Thur, 10/15/15
|
On going
|
Students walk to Fire Station #4
|
Orchard Knob Elementary School
|
Wed, 10/14/15
|
7:15 am
|
Start at Carver YFD Center
|
Red Bank Elementary School
|
Thur, 10/15/15
|
2:00 pm
|
Walk around the school track
|
Soddy Elementary School
|
Thur, 10/15/15
|
7:45 am
|
Walking at the school
|
Woodmore Elementary School
|
Thur, 10/15/15
|
7:15 am
|
Start at New Monumental Church
|
Red Bank Middle School
|
Thur, 10/15/15
|
6:30 am
|
Start at Food City
|
Normal Park Middle & Upper Schools
|
Fri, 10/16/15
|
7:00 am
|
Forest & Mississippi
|
Orchard Knob Middle School
|
Wed, 10/14/15
|
7:15 am
|
Start at Carver YFD Center
|
These events have been organized by the individual schools in cooperation with city and county departments. Representatives from the following departments will walk with the students.
Chattanooga Department of Economic and Community Development
Chattanooga Department of Transportation
Chattanooga Fire Department
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency & Transportation Planning Organization
Chattanooga Police Department
Hamilton County Department of Education
Safe Routes to School National Partnership
“Hamilton County youth are less active than ever before,” reports John Bilderback, program manager for the Health Department’s Step ONE initiative. “Walking to school is one way to increase physical activity among our youth.”
Officials said, "Physical activity increases classroom performance, establishes good health habits, and helps build self-confidence and self-esteem. Children should get 60 minutes of enjoyable activity daily, which can be broken down into smaller time segments. Activities such as walking to school contribute to the daily total."
Pedestrian safety can be a barrier to physical activity, so Health Department staff members are teaching kids to walk safely. According to Ione Farrar, Community Health Planner for the Health Department, “Each year an average of 24 school age children per year in Hamilton County are struck by motor vehicles and admitted to local emergency rooms. Walk to School Day encourages us as a community to identify strategies to make our streets safer for pedestrians.”
McKee Foods and Coordinated School Health are providing healthy snacks for all of the students who participate in their school’s events.
More information about the national event can be found on the web at walkbiketoschool.org.