Santa Clara, San Mateo County Do National Walk And Bike To School Day
Did you happen to notice lots of kids happily walking and biking to school last week? That’s because Wednesday, October 5 was National Walk And Bike To School Day! Held annually, it’s a day to encourage students (and frazzled parents!) to get out of the long backup of cars waiting in school drop-off and pickup traffic and experience the benefits of walking and biking to school. Over the last 30 years, there’s been a huge increase in kids being shuttled to school by car which in turn reduces their opportunities to exercise and maintain good health. National Walk And Bike To School Day activities are geared toward reversing this trend.Prior to the big day, our SVBC education team worked with several elementary and middle schools throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties to promote this special event. We reached over 700 youth through bike rodeos, presentations on bicycle and pedestrian safety, family bike nights, and arranged for free bike repair provided by Bay Area Bike Mobile – all with the goal of encouraging kids to use their bikes and feet to get to school.In partnership with Santa Clara County Public Health, we provided additional support on the day of the event at Ponderosa Elementary School in Sunnyvale. At the crack of dawn, we made preparations to lead a “bike train” on a 1-mile ride to school, making sure students arrived safely by bike. And what a train it was – we had a large group at the start, and more jumped on as we rode through the neighborhood. We are grateful to the City of Sunnyvale for providing police officers on motorcycle to escort us – the kids loved talking to the officers before the ride, and were excited when they rode alongside with their motorcycle lights flashing and making our bike train even more fun!With the National Walk And Bike To School Day celebration behind us, our focus is on keeping the kids’ enthusiasm for biking and walking fresh by continuing to work with schools and supporting their Safe Routes To School activities.
