Fall Happenings in Georgia 

The fall has been a busy time for Safe Routes to School in Georgia.  Statewide events such as International Walk to School Day and the Bike Summit showcased how great walking and biking is. Other events and activities that helped advance SRTS included a series of child pedestrian education workshops and the state's first Student Tally week.  

Walk to School Day on October 5 2011 was an over-whelming success in Georgia. Nearly 125 schools registered events for October 2011 Walk to School Day. Take a look at some images from Walk to School Day events in Georgia and  see for yourself! 

We've been busy adding more information and tools to the website, too! The website now includes landing pages for each region, so be sure to check out these pages, listed on the left hand side under "Georgia Regions." We're also creating a series of "how to" videos to help school SRTS programs. The first video, "How to Collect Student Tallies" is on the website. It's a great companion to our Way to Conduct Student Travel Tallies tip sheet. Both are on the Tips & Tools landing page under Data Collection Tools. Stay tuned for the second "how to" video on child pedestrian safety education.

We like all Resource Center partners and hope you will "like" us. The Resource Center's new Facebook page is now available. As a complement to the website, the Resource Center Facebook page provides weekly School Shout Outs and pictures from events, information updates, "congratulations" to new Resource Center partners.

The Resource Center held six child pedestrian safety workshops during October and November, training nearly 100 parents, educators, and walking and biking advocates how to teach the new NHTSA child pedestrian safety curriculum. Read more about the workshops and learn how to get a copy of the NHTSA curriculum on the Resource Center website.

The state's first Student Tally Week was held on November 1 to 3. Click here to learn more about how Student Tally Week is an important part of any SRTS program. Thank you to all who made the first Student Tally Week such a success.

The Georgia Bike Summit held in early October included a breakout session on SRTS. The workshop was well-attended and left participants enthusiastic about SRTS. Click here for more information.

Local Happenings

Many SRTS communities have been working hard to encourage more students to walk and bike to school and around their community. Here's sampling of some.

The City of Decatur is helping students know the preferred route to get to school. Using in-sidewalk markers, the City created a way-finding system for walking and biking to school.

The Coastal Regional Commission and Safe Kids Savannah coordinated a Crossing Guard Train-the Trainer for the region at West Chatham Elementary (Gold Partner) in Pooler. Read more on the Coastal Georgia page.

Bibb County Schools (Friend) has established a Coordinated School Health Program that includes Safe Routes to School. SOC Sandie Parker is part of the effort in the areas of Physical Education, Health Education, and Family and Community Involvement. Read more 

about this community-wide program on our website.