Walking and Wheeling Wednesday promotes walking and bicycling to school once per week, each Wednesday. A number of local schools have been extremely successful with very little time or cost required. Three schools that participated in April 2010 included Pine Street, Houston and Jesse Boyd Elementaries.
To participate, you simply encourage your students and families to walk or bike to school each Wednesday for a month or for longer. For those who live too far to walk from home, it is easy to establish Park and Walk sites (locations where parents can park their cars and walk as a family to school).
(Pine Street Elementary; Photo courtesy of the Mary Black Foundation)
The benefits of this program are many! Through your school’s participation in W3, your school will begin to alleviate traffic and pollution around your building, promote healthy lifestyles (which is essential in reversing childhood obesity) and expand the sense of community within your school family. PAL has put together a sample program kit to promote and implement W3 in your school. This sample kit is provided at no cost.
If you are interested in implementing Walking & Wheeling Wednesday and need assistance, contact Safe Routes to School Liaison Jane Abbott: jabbott@active-living.org.
