Safe Routes to School
Lewis Elementary School Students and Parents Walk and Bike to School during Safe Routes to School Event
On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Roland Lewis Elementary School participated in a walk and bike to school day. Parents, children and community leaders joined together to promote safe walking and biking to school in Temple Terrace.
The Lewis Elementary walk and bike to school day event is part of the Safe Routes to School “Walking School Bus and Bicycle Train Program” a program managed by the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida. A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults; similar to walking school buses, bicycle trains are a fun way to bicycle in a group. Lewis Elementary PTA, USF Bicycle Club and the Temple Terrace Rotary Club members were volunteers at the successful event. USF Bicycle Club members led bicycle trains along with parents and students, while the Temple Terrace Rotary Club members passed out prizes in front of the school to participating students.
Temple Terrace resident Beth McCullough walked with her children. “We had a good time walking with all the other families,” said McCullough. “My youngest child is in 4th Grade at Lewis this year and bikes to school most days.”
USF Bicycle Club President Jessica Brenner led a bicycle train for Lewis Elementary School students. “The students seemed excited to be out riding their bikes to school,” said Brenner. “In fact, both the parents and the kids seemed to really enjoy the ride.”
Cheri Donohue and other members of the Temple Terrace Rotary Club volunteered for the event. “The Temple Terrace Rotarians who participated did so because the event helps parents and kids think about alternative ways of getting safely to school each day,” stated Donohue. “Learning how to build neighborhood teams to make walking and/or biking to school safe is a double bonus – healthy living and saving fuel at the same time.”
Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the past 30 years, while the number of children walking and biking to school has declined. According to the 2001 National Household Travel Survey, less than 16 percent of students between the ages of 5 and 15 walked or biked to or from school, compared to 42 percent in 1969.
The Center for Urban Transportation Research is currently working with nine Hillsborough County Public Schools implementing the walking school bus and bicycle train programs. This program is funded through a grant administered by the Florida Department of Transportation, District 7.
