Schools
Students Marking Walk to School Day on Friday
Needham elementary students will be participating in an event meant to promote green ways to get to school.
This Friday, several elementary schools in Needham will be participating in International Walk to School Day, a movement to promote environmental awareness, personal health and fitness, and community safety. Needham's program is affiliated with the Green Needham Collaborative and the Massachusetts Safe Routes program, which disseminates information, webinars and incentives for children to walk to school.
Michelle Hoffmeister, a School Coordinator for Walk to School Day and a parent of a student at Hillside Elementary School, said that she became involved in the project due to safety concerns.
"The route from our house to school is not the safest route," she said. "I wanted to try to make our walk a little bit safer."
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Hoffmeister and other parents started a walk-to-school team. "We've made a little bit of headway in terms of getting kids to think walking to school is good for their health and good for the environment," she related.
While the event on Friday happens to coordinate with the international event, Hillside has a walk-to-school day every month, along with publicized information about walking paths near the school. Parents who are not comfortable with their children walking from where they live can park near one of the paths and have their children walk from there. Walk to School Day coordinators also encourage parents to walk with their children, if possible, in order to promote safety.
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In addition to Hillside, Eliot, Mitchell, Broadmeadow and Newman Schools will also be participating Oct. 8. After International Walk to School Day, the Needham schools will participate in other likeminded events, such as the Holiday Stroll and Roll in December, the Polar Bear Walk in January and the Snowman Strut in February.
Approximately 1,000 Needham students are expected to walk with parents on Friday and the event begins at 8 a.m. for Eliot, Mitchell, Broadmeadow and Hillside, and 8:30 a.m. for Newman. Three of the schools will additionally kick off their walks with participation in Earth25, a web-based walking program that chronicles the journeys of teams of walkers around the globe.
More information on Walk to School Day can be found on the Green Needham Collaborative's website.
