safe routes logoSafe Routes to Schools

E-Newsletter       April 2016
 
In This Issue
New Almonte Safety Committee
Green Sneaker Award
Surprise Notes st Middle Schools
Transit Scavenger Hunt
Kentfield Ross Pathway Renovation
PhysicallyActive Kids Perform Better Academically
Bike to School Day Giveaway
Free Bike Racks     
BAAQMD is again offering vouchers for Bike Racks.  Read More
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April Blog
 
Bike Fit for Kids
 
 

New Almonte Neighborhood Safety Committee
Over 30 people gathered at Tam High School on March 24 to discuss safety issues on Almonte and Homestead behind the high school. Parking and speeding issues were at the top of the agenda. The group heard a report from their neighbor Kirsten Kennel, from County Public Works, and from law enforcement. 

The goal of the committee is to develop an action plan that will create a safer environment for walking and biking along the roadways and to reduce automobile traffic to the school. The committee was convened by Supervisor Kate Sears and the Mill Valley Safe Routes to Schools Task Force.

Kids "Lace Up" to Go Green This Spring

Beautiful spring weather has arrived and Marin County elementary schools have shifted into high gear by strongly encouraging students to make green travel a habit. More than 25 elementary schools are launching the Green Sneaker Challenge (GSC) in which students are given a colorful backpack card that serves as a badge of honor and a way to boost green travel school pride. Cards are stamped once a week at a morning welcome table hosted by volunteer SR2S parents. 

Kids enjoy getting stamped and the backpack cards are an "on and off-campus" powerful marketing tool to promote walking, biking, and carpools. On the last day of the GSC, students place their stamped cards into a raffle box and become eligible to win a movie theater gift certificate provided by Safe Routes to School. For more information about the Green Sneaker Challenge, please contact Laura Kelly, Marketing and Outreach Manager for Safe Routes to School, at laura@marinbike.org 
Surprise Notes Greet Middle School Students
Students at Kent and Sinaloa Middle Schools wanted to thank their bike riders for going green. 
They spent hours writing notes and placing them in student helmets during their lunch periods. Here are some of the things they said in their notes:
  • You're saving the planet by biking!
  • You da (eco) bomb!
  • Hey Person, You're awesome for biking!

(The candy was a nice surprise as well)

 

Transit Scavenger Hunt 
                  
Students from the Studies of the Environment (SEA-DISC) Academy hosted a Transit Scavenger Hunt on March 19th. The hunt followed weeks of preparation with presentations to 300 freshmen and the solicitation of $400 worth of prizes from the generous vendors listed below. 

Teams of three to four students learned how to plan bus routes using the phone application "Google Maps." They traveled around Marin County taking selfie photos in various locations with assigned point values. The winning team arrived back to Creek Park on time and had gone to four cities in Marin. The winners each took home a GoPro Camera.
 
All of the students said they would continue to ride the bus or ride it more often than before as a result of the race and that they would recommend the Transit Race to other high school students.  One student held up her phone and said, "I would definitely use transit now that I know how to figure out the routes and times!"
 
This program is funded by a Spare the Air Youth grant and Marin Safe Routes to Schools. Thanks to the following vendors for their generosity: Perry's Deli, Sugar, TLC Tutoring, Redhill, Farm Burger, Sol Food, Mi Pueblo, Mauros, Planet Granite, Livewater Surf Shop, iFly.

Kentfield/Ross Pathway Renovation

About a quarter-mile of the popular Corte Madera Creek Multiuse Pathway will be widened this summer thanks to grant funding secured by the County of Marin. The reconstruction project will take place on the existing pathway from the College of Marin parking lot in Kentfield to the Ross town limit at the Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital. About 1,400 feet of the pathway, which parallels the Corte Madera Creek channel, will be widened from 6 feet to 10 feet. Read More
 
Study: Physically Active Kids Perform Better Academically
It's important to begin a regular routine of healthy exercise as early as possible to help children perform at their best. Such activity is a means of improving more than just the body through building muscle strength and endurance. In fact, many studies are now showing that children who are physically active also perform better in the classroom.   Read More

National Center for Safe Routes to School & Schwinn's Bike to School Day Giveaway
The National Center for Safe Routes to School and Schwinn are teaming up for the third year in celebration of Bike to School Day. This year, the two organizations will host the Bike to School Day SmartStart Bike Share Giveaway to 10 schools across the US.
Individuals who register their Bike to School Day event online are eligible to win one of the ten drawings. Each giveaway will include 10 Schwinn SmartStart bicycles and 20 Schwinn helmets to be awarded to a winning school. Drawings will begin on Wednesday, April 13th and winners will be announced weekly on the Safe Routes to School and Schwinn Facebook pages.
*View the Bike to School Day Schwinn SmartStart Bike Share Giveaway Rules