By 2007, a total of 8 elementary & 2 middle schools in Austin had participated in Safe Routes to School (SRTS) programs. Participating schools were given a 2.5 year non-infrastructure grant from the Texas Department of Transportation. Later in 2011, Zavala elementary, a predominantly Latino urban & low income school, was one of 25 schools to receive a $1,000 mini-grant. The mini-grant allowed students to receive 4 weeks of bicycle training. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xgOuVvWFtw With the help of SRTS, Zavala elementary school was able to increase the number of children who rode bikes to school from 6 to 90. This slideshow presentation provides information on how Safe Routes to School provided children in at Zavala elementary support for biking and walking school bus ...
El Paso children living in a predominantly Latino neighborhood were given the opportunity to walk to school with improved safety, thanks to a Safe Routes to School Program implemented at Rosa Guerrero Elementary. In 2007, The City of El Paso was awarded a $10,000 SRTS grant to develop a program for Rosa Guerrero Elementary School. Through the grant, the city of El Paso was able able hire a consultant, promote the SRTS program, and add signage to enhance the safety of areas near the school. Safety signage and increased driver awareness allowed the community to feel safer about allowing their children to walk to school and since the program at Rosa Guerrero was implemented test scores and student behavior at the school has improved. Read the full story ...
Children attending Wolftrap elementary school are now allowed to bike to school, thanks in part to the diligent efforts of bike enthusiast and parent Jeff Anderson. Anderson established a Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) at Wolftrap elementary and convinced the principal to install bike racks for students. Later he helped abolish an existing school policy which prevented children from biking to school and supported the creation of a new policy that would encourage children to bike to school. See Jeff Anderson's presentation on how he changed school policy and brought biking to school possible for his children. Jeff fostered support from various organizations including the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB), and TrailsforYouth.org to bring change to his kids' ...
The city of Phoenix, Arizona is making the roads safer for pedestrians and encouraging children to walk to school, by implementing Safe Routes to School programs. Each year around 3-5% of students in Phoenix adopt a form of active transportation to school. Check out this video from 2011, that shows how Walk to School Day is encouraging communities in Phoenix to become more physically active. https://youtu.be/aYMB5KRG9Vs In 2012, 30-40 Walk to School Day events were hosted in Phoenix, over a six week period, making it the city with the greatest number of events in the country. Don Cross is the School Safety Coordinator with the Street Transportation Department in Phoenix, who also coordinates the Safe Routes to School program in Phoenix. Check out this Q&A with Don Cross to learn ...
In October of 2012, Lincoln School in Prescott became the first school in Yavapai County to implement a Walking School Bus program. According to this report from The Daily Courier, so far parents and students have given positive feedback about the program. In the article, Lincoln Principal Teresa Bruso said: "We are excited to offer this program...It's a great opportunity for students to build community and healthy lifestyles as the walk to school each day." A non-profit organization called Prescott Alternative Transportation (PAT) received a grant, which helped the program get started. A few months prior to starting the program the Arizona Department of Transportation sponsored a walking school bus, workshop taught by PedNet. The workshop helped equip PAT with the tools necessary ...
School districts in Texas are responsible for encouraging children to be physically active. In doing so, some believe that school wellness policies should not use physical activity as a form of punishment. This September 2011 recommendation developed by the Texas School Health Advisory Council (TSHAC) aims to guide local School Health Advisory Councils (SHACs) to include provisions in their school wellness policies to prohibit physical activity as punishment. Click the document, or click here to view the full ...
Since 2001, physical activity requirements for Texas schools have been in place. Still if students are not meeting requirements for daily physical activity, other programs--such as after school programs--should provide them with an opportunity to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity. The following recommendations, created in November 2008, were provided in response to Texas SB 530, which was passed at the 80th legislation session. The bill requires that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in consultation with the Texas School Health Advisory Council (TSHAC) provide a report to the legislation, that details options for students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity, outside the seven-hour instructional school day. The recommendations ...
Attorney General Bill Sorrell is looking to target fast food marketing in his next initiative to fight childhood obesity in Vermont. The state has had penny-per-ounce tax on sugar sweetened beverages already instated by Sorrell, and now they want to begin cutting advertising from directing their marketing toward children. It is in the early stages of planning, but Sorrell is determined to fight childhood obesity in all areas. They do know that this will be a challenge, because of all the laws and policies already in place protecting First Amendment Rights. However they still wish to push forward with this initiative because of their desire to fight childhood obesity in all aspects of life. Sorrell brought in a professor from Dartmouth, Dr. James Sargent, who conducted a study on the ...
Although, Utah has historically been one of the least obese states in the U.S., obesity levels have increased over the last few years. According to information from America's Health Rankings, Hispanics have a 29.4% obesity rate in Utah, compared to only 23.1% of non-Hispanic Whites Rep. Stewart Barlow (R-Fruit Heights) of Utah is working to raise awareness about obesity, by sponsoring a resolution to acknowledge that obesity is a growing problem in Utah. One of the main provisions of this resolution states that Utah will support policies that would increase access to healthy food and physical activity. The resolution recognizes the need to support policies that promote increased access to healthy food and physical activity in Utah. According to a 2005 report, Latino (10.4%) high ...
