Events Across the Country: Stories from the Field

Tucson

Safe Kids Tucson presented pedestrian safety “magic” in third-grade classrooms, and the local fire captain led a general school assembly. FedEx employees, along with local fire companies, distributed reflective stickers and safety information at school crossings. An 87-year-old school crossing guard who volunteers every day participated in the International Walk to School Day event, inspiring all participants.

Mississippi

To raise awareness of the pedestrian environment around their school, prior to International Walk to School Day students made posters about pedestrian safety and wrote letters to Mayor Jeffery Rupp of Columbus about areas in need of improvement.

The mayor attended the International Walk to School Day event and walked around the school with the students, who showed him the areas in need of modification. Displaying his commitment to pedestrian safety, the mayor called city employees on the spot to make the changes that the students suggested. The mayor also gave out certificates to the children, and a Safe Kids representative gave a presentation on pedestrian safety.

Denver Metro

Denver Metro Safe Kids hosted a number of activities at participating schools during International Walk to School Day. As part of an art contest, students submitted posters depicting how "Safe Kids Walk This Way.” A panel of judges chose a winner who received a gift certificate for a pair of shoes. Walkability surveys were also distributed to participating schools as part of a survey contest.

Pizzas delivered by FedEx volunteers and served by firefighters were awarded to the classroom with the highest survey response rate (100 percent). Coalition members were joined by FedEx volunteers, firefighters, school principals, PTA representatives and the mayor in distributing pedestrian safety materials to walkers as they arrived at school.

Snohomish

To kick off International Walk to School Day, students returned “Safe Walking Pledges” in exchange for t-shirts. Students wearing t-shirts carried the Walk This Way banner down the sidewalk into the school.

After morning announcements, students were brought into the auditorium for a pedestrian safety presentation by Safe Kids Snohomish. The presentation included a skit by the safety patrol, a demonstration of retroreflectablility using reflective tape, pedestrian safety rules, a safety chant and a drawing for bike helmets. A FedEx truck parked on the pavement right outside the front door of the school. After the assembly, FedEx employees used the truck to demonstrate blind spots to students.

Magic Valley

Safe Kids Magic Valley hosted a “Safe Kids Walk to School” parade for students from Perrine Elementary. Mascots from local schools, FedEx trucks and police cars joined and the students for the nearly one-mile walk. After the parade, packets of pedestrian safety information were passed out to children, teachers and parents. A local news station aired coverage of the event on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news that evening.

Dauphin County

On the morning of International Walk to School Day, students met to walk four blocks to Rowland School. Throughout the school day, fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in a pedestrian safety rodeo organized by Safe Kids Dauphin County. The rodeo consisted of four stations: identifying road signs, learning about blind spots, learning about crosswalk safety and answering questions posed by a “safety wheel.”

Seventh-grade students completed walkability checklists on the day of the walk, while eighth-grade students wrote essays identifying a problem in their neighborhood that made it unsafe to walk and offering improvement suggestions.

Lincoln-Lancaster

The day before International Walk to School Day, Safe Kids Lincoln-Lancaster took a school's entire student body (about 250 kids) through four interactive educational stations promoting pedestrian safety.

The topics of the stations were physical fitness, promoting physical activity and walking to school; the NHTSA “Safer Journeys” interactive pedestrian safety program; a FedEx truck, where FedEx employees showed kids how difficult it is for drivers of large vehicles to see them and how to communicate with a driver before entering the street; and a crosswalk exhibit that taught students how to use the new countdown flashers.

On International Walk to School Day, the mayor and city council members shared thoughts on pedestrian safety and read a proclamation during a schoolwide assembly. At the assembly, two student groups performed pedestrian safety raps, and a volunteer mom who serves as a crossing guard at a dangerous intersection near the school was recognized as the school's "Crosswalk Queen” for her tireless commitment to the safety of the students. The mayor and city council members also served as honorary crossing guards as the kids walked home.