57 K-8 schools participating in county
Schools across Sonoma County will celebrate International Walk to School Day & Walk to School Month on Wednesday Oct. 3, doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion and improve community health and safety.
Students will be walking, cycling and scooting to school next Wednesday between 7 and 9 a.m. (times vary based on school start times).
In addition to students, elected officials will take part in some locations. According to Tina Panza, the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition organizer for the event, “Students, along with parents, teachers and community leaders, will choose ways to get to school that are healthier for themselves and the planet. The event helps Sonoma County achieve its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels.”
Panza added: “Walk & Roll to School events create safer routes for students to walk and bicycle. They emphasize the importance of increasing children‘s physical activity, bicycle and pedestrian safety, traffic congestion mitigation, reducing our carbon footprint and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.”
In the U.S., International Walk to School Day 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.
Over 9,000 Sonoma County students and their families participated in 2017.
Motorists are encouraged to drive with extra care around schools that day.
