International Walk to School Day celebrates safety and good health

Today, I had the good fortune of joining students from East Silver Spring Elementary School in Maryland as they walked and biked to school in celebration of International Walk to School Day. I want to thank Principal Morrow and the entire ESS community for welcoming me so enthusiastically.

With Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett (left), Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony Brown (right) and young Benjamin Simpson, who jumped into my arms quite unexpectedly

Walk to School Day is a great opportunity for me to spend time with parents, kids, and teachers and to showcase our Safe Routes to School program and First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative.

These two students at Takoma Park, MD, Piney Branch Elementary School are excited about Walk To School Day

As a father, grandfather and former schoolteacher, I know how important it is that we provide students with safe options for getting to school while promoting exercise and healthy lifestyles. That's why I've embraced the Safe Routes to School program so wholeheartedly since becoming Secretary of Transportation.

Simply, Safe Routes works to ensure that children have a safe way to walk or bike to school. And that dovetails perfectly with the First Lady's goals of increasing physical activity among kids and reversing childhood obesity.

You know, we're looking at an increasingly sedentary generation of children. One out of every three kids in America is now overweight or obese. And this has costs that will reverberate for all of us--from the kids who grow up to endure the medical complications of obesity, through the health care system, and all the way to the employers who will have to manage their sick days and the nation's economy which will suffer from lost productivity.

This girl sends an important message as she walks to ESS.

It's not a sustainable situation, and I admire the First Lady's efforts to end this within a generation.

Safe Routes to School is a natural partner for Let's Move. For more than 10 years, Safe Routes has been making it easier for students to walk and bike from home to school. And ESS, where I walked today, was one of the earliest schools to participate.

Safe Routes to School encourages sidewalks in good repair, like these in East Silver Spring

We know this program has been enormously effective because the steady decline, since 1969, in the number of kids walking or biking to school has been stabilized. And as we made our way down the street this morning I was reminded yet again of this program's extraordinary work.

Look, walking and biking to school is good for students' health. It's good for the environment. And it's good for the entire community's quality of life. I saw that today in East Silver Spring. You can see it in nearby Takoma Park in the news clip above. And we have seen it across the country.

Everybody wins when kids take Safe Routes to School.

Comments

[Laurie Brown]

Hello , We have a wonderful school in Orlando , Florida who just initiated our first Audubon Park Walk and Roll Program! Before our first walk and roll we had roughly 165 cars in our car loop! The day of walk and roll we only had 70 cars and we had over 375 walkers and bikers on our first day. We also initiated a "walking school bus" where children who lived to far to walk or ride their bike were dropped off by their parents and along with parents,our school principal Trevor Honohan and our community resource police officer, we walked into school! We had over 50- 100 children on our walking school bus and hope it grows every walk and roll. Our walk and roll is the first Wednesday of every month. We have punch cards where our kids can bring the punch card and have them stamped and when they trade in their punch cards at the end of the year they will be able to get a reward. We are also doing monthly raffles and giveaways ! Below is a video we did and compares our bike racks before and after walk and roll as well as our "walking school bus"

[James Green]

My daughter goes to East Silver Spring, walking to school is good for students' health and I encourage it. I believe it is good for them both physically and relaxes them mentally as they come closer to nature.
J.G
www.uk-webs.com

[Ashley Madison]

So good to see kids walking to school and being safe about it. Great story!

[Michael E. Bailey]

Safe Routes to School is one of the best ways to get students up and moving and so to burn off the excess pounds. It also promotes safe streets and accessible safe sidewalks and that benefits the entire community. With Safe Routes to School, not only the students but the entire community wins--a great program. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[A. Gondring]

Good to see that the Department of (Anti-)Transportation is spending taxpayer dollars this way. The Department of Education has been very successful at suppressing education in America, and it's good to see the Department of Transportation is working hard against transportation just like its role is detailed in Amendment X of the Constitution for the United States details (sarcasm there).

[Jim Diamond]

In a day an age where modes of transportation are so prevalent, it is great to see so many kids using the most rudimentary form of transportation, their legs and feet. Walking to school not only promotes a healthy lifestyle but also is a good way to spend time thinking.

[Zoila]

What a wonderful story to tell. Seeing those kids so inspired is already an accomplishment... It is always nice to join programs related to health and safety especially for kids. It is something very important in their growth and development. Great job! I have bookmarked this site and I might be checking back again!

[Isagenix]

East Silver Spring is a very good school and a good example for other schools to use for a similiar walking to schook day program.