Inside our schools: Fitness, safety among goals of Walk to School Day
Third-grader Ethan Jones kept up a brisk pace Wednesday morning for a walk with his family’s dog – and more than a dozen other schoolchildren.
The standard poodle, Cinnamon, pushed forward on a leash as Ethan and his dad, Kevin Jones, met up with other parents, students and teachers on the sidewalk from Highway 27 and 32nd Avenue to Chester Elementary to celebrate International Walk to School Day. Other Chester-bound groups from Midilome East joined them along the way.
“This is our first time,” said Ethan as he waited to start at 8:30 a.m. in the Albertsons parking lot. “We’re walking to support the International Walk to School Day.”
Ethan normally takes a bus, but his dad remembered his own walks to school as a boy.
“I wish we lived closer to school so we could walk all the time,” said Kevin Jones. “It’s good exercise for the kids. Kids need time just to be kids and socialize. Walking to school is one of the best times to do that.”
Students at Central Valley’s University and Adams elementary schools also marked Walk to School Day with around 100 participants. The day is aimed at promoting physical fitness, pedestrian safety and concern for the environment.
Chester Elementary had at least 50 pedestrians participate. Many parents brought younger siblings who were pushed in strollers or who followed on bikes with training wheels. Some children who walked 32nd Avenue’s sidewalk carried signs supplied by Chester’s PTA group saying, “Caution Kids Walking” or “Slow Down.”
A few motorists honked and waved.
Marissa Thompson, a fourth-grade Chester student, carried a sign that said, “PTA Loves You, Buckle Up.”
She also said she liked the chance to walk to school as she waited with her mom to start the trek near Albertsons. “I live in Veradale, so I don’t usually get to walk to school. It sounds really exciting.”
Some teachers and staff branched out to help escort the walkers.
“We walked from the school and now we’re walking back, so we’re getting our exercise,” said Chester first-grade teacher Sarah Parshall, who met students across the street from Albertsons at 32nd and Highway 27.
Fifth-grader Madison Haase chatted with Parshall along the way. “I’ve done it (Walk to School Day) three times,” Haase said. “It’s very fun because I live in the country, so I really don’t get to walk to school unless it’s Walk to School Day.”
EV superintendent plans community meetings
East Valley’s interim Superintendent, Debra Howard, will hold Saturday community meetings at the Four Corner Country Bakery in Otis Orchards, including one discussion scheduled today from 8 to 10 a.m.
The bakery is at the corner of Harvard Road and Wellesley Avenue. Howard has already held one community meeting prior to today and plans additional ones.
She has scheduled the following Saturday meetings at the bakery: Oct. 27 and Dec. 1 The times for these community meetings also are 8 to 10 a.m.
Grange’s ‘Words for Thirds’ in fifth year
McIntosh Grange No. 1001 from Rockford gave dictionaries to all third-grade students at Freeman Elementary on Tuesday. This is the group’s fifth year of a “Words for Thirds” program at Freeman.
This annual event promotes reading and spelling in the school district, said Carol Evans, secretary of McIntosh Grange.
Students complete walk-a-thon
University Elementary School students completed a walk-a-thon on Sept. 26 to support their school. The University Elementary School PTA sponsored the event to raise funds for school technology, field trips and other school needs.
More than 300 students along with teacher and parents walked the perimeter of the school’s playfields from 1:15-2:45 p.m. The students secured sponsorships for each lap walked, as well as flat-rate pledges. The first- through fifth-graders logged 6,075 total laps and raised nearly $7,000.