Schools warn drivers to pay extra attention
Morning commuters are likely to see more cyclists and pedestrians on Wednesday, Oct. 4 as Healdsburg area schools celebrate International Walk and Roll to School Day.
From about 7 to 9 a.m., students and their parents from Fitch Mountain Elementary, Geyserville Elementary, Healdsburg Elementary and Healdsburg Junior High will make an extra effort to ditch the car for bikes and feet during the morning grind to school.
“Participating is a no-brainer,” said Laurel Green, office assistant with Fitch Mountain Elementary. “It’s really nice to get the kids out and moving and to remind everyone that biking and walking are options.”
Although most schools schedule a monthly Walk and Roll Day, Wednesday’s event coincides with the international event. Across the Bay Area, California and the world, students, teachers and parents from 4,000 schools and 40 countries will be doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion while improving community health and safety.
“We have the infrastructure already set up,” Green said. “Our staff gets really involved.”
Green said the school has been working with the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition Safe Routes to School program to create safe bicycle routes for kids. The coalition has also helped Fitch Mountain and other schools promote and teach safe cycling.
“This is what we love to do,” said Sarah Hadler, a Safe Routes to School coordinator. “It’s important to teach kids about pedestrian and bike safety.”
Healdsburg Elementary has received help promoting the event for its kindergarten, first and second graders through public service announcements, posters and school-wide incentives.
“We encourage all means of getting here, including riding a bus and carpooling,” Connie Peteriet, Healdsburg Elementary’s organizing teacher wrote in an email.
Wednesday will mark the first time Healdsburg Elementary has participated this year. According to Petereit, the school will participate on the first Wednesday of each month for the rest of the school year.
“We just want the kids to get out there and get exercise,” Peteriet said. “They’re so much more energized when they walk or bike to school. This is our chance to celebrate physical activity and taking care of the earth.”
Walk and Roll to School Day is a combined effort by the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition Safe Routes to School program, Safe Kids Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente Northern California and the Center for Climate Protections’ ECO2School Program to emphasize the importance of increasing children’s physical activity, improving bicycle and pedestrian safety, traffic congestion mitigation, reducing a community’s carbon footprint and building connections between families, school and the broader community.
“The event helps Sonoma County achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emission to 25 percent below 1990 levels,” according to Tina Panza, director of Safe Routes to School Sonoma County.
According to Panza, more than 7,500 elementary and middle school students and an additional 1,200 high school students across the county participated last year.
To help incentivize students, the Safe Routes to School program is handing out swag to each participant. Examples include knit beanies, highlighters, pencils, neon shoelaces and reflectors.
“A lot of the items will help keep kids safe,” Hadler said.
The Safe Routes to School program maps out the safest routes for children and their parents to walk or cycle to school. Additionally, volunteers from the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition work with second and fourth grade classes to teach pedestrian and bicycle safety.
“It’s an important program,” Hadler said. “It’s important to give kids confidence on their bikes and sidewalks.”
