Hoofing It to Class: Zeh Works on Possibilities

Every month, the promotes a Walk and Bike to School event as part of its Safe Routes to School Initiative. It encourages, said , principal of the Zeh School, a little bit of before school exercise and family time.

"We see many parents walking to school with our students," said Whitten.

Recently, Zeh received an Infrastructure Assessment Grant from Safe Routes to School to explore the neighborhood around Zeh to assess what can be done to improve the infrastructure, and make it more conducive to walking or biking the route.

"It isn’t a dollar amount, but assessment services from The Engineering Committee of Safe Routes to School," said Whitten. "They will be working with the community to gather information about the mile radius around Zeh to determine what work could or should be done to improve walkability/bikeability in our neighborhood."

Once the initial information is collected and completed, the Engineering Committee will meet with the Town Committee, which includes the Town Planner, Town Engineer, and the Board of Health, to discuss possibilities.

"If there is enough work to be done, they will provide the engineering specifications to move the project along," said Whitten. "This is work that is funded from the federal government. Based on our application, we would like to see 10 percent of our community [roughly 30 students] choose this option for transportation to and from school."