Tampa Mayor, Students Celebrate National Walk To School Day With Crosswalk Ribbon-Cutting

TAMPA, FL — Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will join MacFarlane Park Elementary School students on Wednesday, Oct. 6 to celebrate National Walk to School Day, along with a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the city's 10th Crosswalks to Classrooms street mural.

MacFarlane Park Elementary School staff and Sidewalk Stompers, a group that promotes safety for children who walk to school, are organizing the National Walk to School Day event, which will include activities and giveaways for participating students.

Castor will be joined by Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis, MacFarlane Park Elementary teachers and administration, members of Sidewalk Stompers and members of the nonprofit Walk Bike Tampa, which sponsored the latest crosswalk mural.

Students will gather at 7:45 a.m. at the David Barksdale Senior Citizen Center, 1801 N. Lincoln Ave., to warm up before parading across MacFarlane Park to the newly painted crosswalk on MacDill Avenue, just across the street from MacFarlane Park Elementary School, 1721 N. MacDill Ave., Tampa.

That's where Castor will greet students for a ribbon-cutting before crossing the street to school. Afterward, Castor, Davis, Emily Hinsdale of Sidewalk Stompers and Tampa Mobility Department Director Vik Bhide will discuss the Crosswalks to Classrooms project and need for increased safety in school zones.

Castor said National Walk to School Day is an ideal time to celebrate the city's Crosswalks to Classrooms street mural program.

"A critical piece of our Vision Zero roadway safety effort is to ensure that our kids have safe places to walk, bike and scoot in their neighborhoods and to and from school," Castor said. "Events like this highlight the importance of walking to school and street murals like this one on MacDill bring attention to drivers that students may be crossing the road, so they should be alert and slow down."

Outside McFarlane Park Elementary, students cross in the morning from McFarlane Park across the four lanes of MacDill to McFarlane Park Elementary, so we're hoping this will make them more visible and make this a safer crossing," Hinsdale said. "This is a good project to help raise awareness about how we all need to support each other being safe on Tampa's roads."

"This is a main street in West Tampa, so there's tons of traffic and, unfortunately, a lot of speeding," said Maria Castillo of the MacFarlane Park Neighborhood Association. "So we thought, besides something that would be just aesthetically pleasing, we wanted something to actually catch the attention and maybe slow down drivers a bit. It does make the neighborhood even nicer."

Walk to School Day encourages students to walk to school more regularly, helping strengthen community connections, encourage physical activity, promote road safety and celebrate the benefits of walking.

The Crosswalk to Classrooms project was launched last year in conjunction with Tampa's Vision Zero pledge to reach zero pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities on Tampa roads.

Vision Zero is part of a global network of cities aiming to eliminate pedestrian, bicyclist and vehicular deaths on roadways.

Under the supervision of artist Jay Giroux of the READ Movement and as part of the mayor's Art on the Block initiative, students, teachers and parents use stencils to paint colorful murals on crosswalks featuring the students' favorite book titles.

"So we interpreted various moments in the books and created a set of iiconography, each icon representing a moment or passage, or person, place or thing in the book," Giroux said. "We were able to be accommodating in organizing it in a way that each kid got to contribute, especially the fifth-graders who were very involved with fundraising."

The murals not only create a fun place to cross the road safely, but studies have shown the murals alert drivers of the possible presence of children and the need to slow down.

Art on the Block is an initiative by Castor designed to bring art and artists into the neighborhoods by painting colorful murals on streets, buildings and other drab surfaces. The intent is to make art accessible to everyone, provide curb appeal and revitalize public spaces.

For more information, contact Alana Brasier, city of Tampa Vision Zero coordinator, at 813-274-8053 or alana.brasier@tampagov.net.

See related stories:

• Colorful Tampa School Crosswalk Features Popular Book Titles
• Crosswalk Murals Aren't Just Art; They Help Slow Down Drivers
• Tampa Unveils Initiative To Make Crosswalks Safer
• Tampa Receives State Honors For Painted Crosswalks Program