safe routes logoSafe Routes to Schools

E-Newsletter       November 2013
In This Issue
International Walk to School Day
Mapping Routes to School
Miller Creek 50% Challenge
Brookside Students Hit Milestone
Marin presents at YES! Conference
Bike Rack Grants   
November Blog      
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walk and roll wednesdays

Walk and Roll every Wednesday 

 

Iwalk Scores Again!

 

   

A beautiful day dawned on October 9th as 47 schools participated in International Walk and Roll to School Day in Marin County.  Once again, many schools reported record turn outs.  And from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, 4,447 schools registered Walk to School Day events, setting a new Walk to School Day record! It was another amazing year of ribbon cuttings for new sidewalks and bicycle safety clinics, and the quiet significance of a parent and child spending time together while getting some fresh air and stretching their legs.

 

See the highlights.

  

You can also read more and view the pictures by going to www.saferoutestoschools.org and browse through the In Your School sections.

 

Mapping the Routes to School

 

 

TAM's Safe Routes to School program is now working with schools, task forces and jurisdictions in developing suggested route to school maps.  These maps are effective tools for informing parents and students of traffic conditions and bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure around their schools.  The maps will indicate the preferred, most convenient, and most accessible walking and bicycling routes to and from school and identify areas to avoid owing to high traffic volumes, lack of walkways, absence of controlled street crossings, and other conditions. The maps can show off-street trails, marked crosswalks, crossing guards, and pedestrian/bicycle facilities that assist students walking or bicycling, as well as challenging intersections, sidewalk gaps, and other barriers.

Based on program funding, up to five suggested route maps will be prepared annually.

  November Blog:

  Miller Creek Launches 50% Challenge

 

 

Miller Creek
Manor Champion John Ferguson counting bikes

Students in Mike Schulist's 8th grade science classes at Miller Creek Middle School have a goal - to increase the number of students who get to school by walking and biking from its current level, 32%, to 50%. 

  

Eighth grade students were introduced to the effects cars have on the environment when they watched a 36-inch balloon fill up with carbon dioxide from the tailpipe of an SUV - in just 10 seconds!

 

Continue reading on our Blog

 

Brookside Students Hit a Milestone

 

Brookside Iwalk

 

Thirty-five students at Brookside Elementary School have been recognized for registering 10 green weekly trips since school began during their Walk and Roll Wednesdays.  That means they have not missed one Walk and Roll day this year.   They will receive a green Walk and Roll to School pencil and be acknowledged in the weekly school assembly.  Brookside uses the Active4me scanning system to track the progress of their students. 

To date, they have logged 1,477 green trips traveling by foot, bike, carpool or bus.  Of these 43% come by foot and 38% roll.  They have traveled 379 miles burning 12,000 calories and avoiding burning 51 gallons of gas and saving $243.  Through traveling green they have avoided spewing 976 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Marin Youth Present at Bay Area Conference

 

 
Marin teenagers joined other teens from around the Bay Area for the first Youth for the Environment and Sustainability (YES) in Transportation conference on November 2, 2013 in Oakland.  Teens heard and delivered presentations on strategies for increasing green transportation modes in their schools and beyond.  Kent Students from the Eco Action Club (Maggie Weix, Lily Carbullido, Alexa Erickson, Isabelle Youngson, and Annika Geissberger led by teacher Leslie Canin) wowed the crowd with their dynamic climate assembly on why students should walk and bike to school.  The No Cars on Campus Project was featured in the panel on student led projects with Drake students Natalie Jones and Stella Ocker and teacher advisor Rod Milstead talking about the history of this yearly event.  Watch the conference video.