1/28/2016 - Active Routes to School
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Active Routes to School
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1/28/2016 - Active Routes to School
- 1. Counties Served: Jackson*, Graham, Clay, Cherokee, Swain, Macon, Haywood & Transylvania Jackie Moore Region 1 Coordinator Adapted from the National Center for Safe Routes to School’s “Improving Health, Safety and Transportation”
- 3. What is Active Routes to School? • NC Division of Public Health and NC Department of Transportation • Administered through the local NC health departments Partnership • NC Safe Routes to School initiatives • Local, regional and state community safety and health initiatives Alignment • Began as a Three year project scheduled to end 2016 now extended through 2019.Timing
- 4. Benefits of Walking and Biking to School • Increases academic performance • Improves health – decreased obesity and asthma-related events • Teaches fundamental safety skills Children • Improves the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists • Provides cost savings by reducing need for “hazard” busing • Benefits the local economy by funding construction projects • Improves the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists • Provides cost savings by reducing need for “hazard” busing • Benefits the local economy by funding construction projects School/ Community • Improves air quality by reducing vehicle emissions • Reduces traffic congestion near schools Environment
- 5. Physical Activity Recommendations Children and adolescents need 1 hour or more of physical activity daily. This should include: 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily Data Source: United States Department of Health and Human Services. 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. http://www.health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/. Accessed 04/2015.
- 7. Good news! Communities are taking action on behalf of their kids
- 8. Elements of Safe Routes to School programs Education Encouragement Enforcement Engineering Evaluation
- 9. Active Routes to School Goal Increase the number of elementary and middle school students who safely walk and bike to or AT school.
- 10. Project Activities Active Routes is implementing Safe Routes to School initiatives through local health departments across the state.
- 11. Is It Working? 19 85 41 156 110 TBD 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 Bike to School Day (May) Walk to School Day (October) 2013 2014 2015 Data Source: Schools registered on www.walkbike.org. Accessed 5/11/15 Active Routes to School Starts 2014 Active Routes to School Starts 2014 84% Increase! 479% Increase!
- 12. Schools served in Jackson County • Fairview ( am and pm walk/run program) • Cullowhee Valley (walking Wednesday) • Blue Ridge • School of Alternatives (walk across America & Appalachian Trail) • Scotts Creek ( sea to sea walk across NC) • Heritage Christian Academy (no PE classes available = walking program) • The Summit Charter School • Smokey Mountain Elementary
- 14. Region 1 Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson*, Macon, Swain, Transylvania Weekly Walking Wednesday • The Scoop – Cullowhee Valley School started a weekly walking program for K-8 students – Cullowhee, NC: Jackson County • Partners – Jackson County Parks and Recreation, Western Carolina University and Cullowhee Valley School. • Program Reach – An average of 50 students and their families as well as numerous WCU community volunteers & teachers walk each Wednesday • Program Resulted in: – Community partners collaborated to lead a countywide walking program. – About 50 students, parents, and volunteers walk a quarter-mile trail from Jackson County Recreation Department to the school. – WCU football coaches and players assisted as walking buddies and safety patrol members along the trail. While WCU players earned service learning credits for their efforts, most maintained their volunteer roles till the school year’s end as they had built friendships with the students.
- 42. Clay County Summer Bicycle program
- 45. Common Elements Among Programs that Increased Walking and Bicycling 1. In-school champion 2. Promotional activities 3. Parent support 4. Policies
- 50. Making the connection: How can YOU engage with Active Routes to School? • Community and neighborhood site improvement – Participate and/or conduct walking/bicycling assessments to help identify and address safety features near schools for bicycle and pedestrian activity • Wellness Committees – Invite Active Routes to School Coordinators to attend your committees (e.g., health and wellness committees) • Policy Change – School Wellness Policy, Complete Streets, Shared-Use of Facilities, invite coordinator to be part of the development bike & pedestrian plans, comprehensive plans, transportation plans.
- 51. Region 1 • 15 months • 8 Counties • 30 New Schools • 100’s of Healthier kids • PRICELESS
- 52. Thank you! Jackie Moore Region 1 Coordinator Active Routes To School arts@jacksonnc.org 828-587-8226
Editor's Notes
- Image: Latham Elementary School, Winston-Salem, NC by Mike Cynecki.
- Message: Active Routes to School is supported by a partnership between the N.C. Department of Transportation and the Division of Public Health. This three year federally funded project is in alignment with NC SRTS initiatives and local, regional and state community safety and health initiatives.
- There are several benefits for children walking and biking to school for example: Increased academic performance (I’m sure you all can appreciate this), improves health – decreased obesity and asthma-related events and teaches fundamental safety skills for children Improved safety of pedestrians and bicyclists, cost savings by reducing need for hazard busing, benefits to the local economy due to funding construction projects Improved air quality by reducing vehicle emissions and reducing traffic congestion near schools Note: Hazard busing: crossing a roadway, followed by walking along a roadway, and walking on a roadway, crossing railroad tracks
- Regarding improving health, we know that to get substantial health benefits Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily. Aerobic: Most of the 60 or more minutes a day should be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, and should include vigorous-intensity physical activity at least 3 days a week. Muscle-strengthening: As part of their 60 or more minutes of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include muscle-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days of the week. Bone-strengthening: As part of their 60 or more minutes of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include bone-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days of the week. It is important to encourage young people to participate in physical activities that are appropriate for their age, that are enjoyable, and that offer variety, which walking and biking to or at school can offer.
- Message: It is time to focus on the good. Communities are taking action on behalf of their kids. Images: (l) Latham Elementary School, Winston-Salem, NC, provided by Mike Cynecki; (c) Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, MT, provided through www.iwalktoschool.org, (r) Century Elementary School, Century, FL, provided through www.iwalktoschool.org.
- Message: Safe Routes to School Programs employ the E’s – engineering, education, enforcement, and encouragement – to help achieve their goals. Evaluation is another element of the SRTS program and is used to identify which strategies are working well and which are not going as planned and why. Image: Kilby Elementary, Woodbridge, VA, provided by www.iwalktoschool.org.
- Message: Through this project there are ten Active Routes to School Project Coordinators working across North Carolina to ultimately make it easier for elementary and middle school students to safely walk and bike to school. Image: Whitaker Elementary School, Winston-Salem, NC by Mike Cynecki.
- The project activities include: One-time awareness events about the importance of SRTS, such as National Bike to School Day Ongoing programs that encourage walking and biking to or at school, such as Walking Wednesdays Trainings/Workshops related to Safe Routes to School-related activities, for example training on the Let’s Go NC! Pedestrian and Bicycle Curriculum Policy changes that support walking and biking to or at school, for example early arrival and departure policies for walkers and bikers Planning for Built Environment changes for example, sidewalks, cross walks and safety features near schools. Note: The 2014-2015 fiscal year coordinators developed infrastructure statements identifying small-scope project that would facilitate bike/pedestrian movement within 2 miles of an elementary or middle school…to be submitted to the Metropolitan Planning Organization/Rural Planning Organization, for project consideration through the Transportation Prioritization Process (SPOT) 3.0 project list.
- Active Routes to School Coordinators are engaging schools across the state to increase walking and biking to and at school. As an example, this slide shows the increase in the number of schools that have registered for walk and bike to school day events on www.walkbike.org. Since 2013, 84% increase in walk to school day events and from 2013 to 2015 a 479% increase in bike to school day events!
- About Region 1 Active Routes to School assisted Cullowhee Valley School in developing a weekly walking program. Each Wednesday, an average of 50 students and their families walk a quarter-mile trail from the Jackson County Recreation Center to the school. An idea initially created by a Western Carolina University student in a Parks, Recreation and Management class. The collaboration welcomes campuswide faculty, staff and student participation. Walking Wednesday fosters enduring community relationships and encourages camaraderie among diverse ages and populations. Coaches and student athletes serve as mentors whose commitment greatly surpassed their required academic obligation. When the WCU students departed for the summer, parents, teachers and volunteers from the greater community continued the program through the kids’ school year to maintain the participants’ sense of excitement and celebrate their accomplishment in the goal of healthly living. Partners Jackson County Parks and Recreation, Western Carolina University and Cullowhee Valley School. For more information contact Jackie Moore, ARTS@jacksonnc.org
- Each of you are key to a successful program that focuses on increasing walking and biking for students in your school in your professional lives as well as personally. • There was a SRTS study that identified four key elements among programs that increased walking and bicycling, which included: In-school champions, promotional activities, parent support and policies. In-School Champions – include teachers, such as PE teachers, school administrators, and school nurses that have the expertise to serve as driving forces behind successful implementation activities. Promotional Activities – impact the number of children who walk and bike to or at school on a regular basis by reinforcement and making it fun, which can be done through Walk and Bike to School Days. Parent Support – include using parents to garner support from school administrators, serve as leaders in their community and have the ability to help craft positive policy changes. They can also help by completing parent surveys if offered by the school, which will contribute to gathering much needed data to understand their perception of walking and biking in their community. Policies – can be focused at the school-level or Local Education Agency (LEA) and municipal level. For example, early arrival and departure for students walking and biking to school or mandatory safety classes for students are examples of school or LEA level policies. Municipal level policies could ensure that pedestrian and bicycle strategies are incorporated into master plans for a municipality. Another type of policy is complete streets that would ensure that streets are designed and operated for safe use by people of all ages and abilities. The coordinators have incorporated some of these elements into their activities. I would now like to share some case examples of Active Routes to school activities across the state that incorporate in-school champions, promotonal activities and/or parent support. We also have some very recent examples of school policies that include the adoption of the Let’s Go NC! Curriciulum and another policy that supports walking/biking in NC that I can share with you if you contact me.
- Trainings and workshops that help to improve opportunities for safe walking and bicycling include the “Let’s Go NC!: A Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Skills Program for Healthy, Active Children” The Let’s Go NC! curriculum consists of lesson plans, materials, and supplemental tools that anyone can use to teach elementary-aged children grades K-5 about the basics of walking and biking. It is endorsed by the NC Department of Public Instruction and addresses the NC Essential Standards and Common Core Standards. And can be used by schools, clubs, after school programs, law enforcement and other groups. Please check out the link for a brief 3-minute video to learn more about this program. And please speak with your regional project coordinator to learn about other trainings and workshops in your area. Note: The curriculum is divided into two primary lesson sets: Let’s Go Walking and Let’s Go Biking. Each lesson set has three distinct teaching levels divided by grade – K-1st, 2nd and 3rd, and 4th and 5th. It features hands-on learning and skill-building activities, as well as math, reading, social studies, science, art and music. All curriculum materials, including lesson plans, lesson videos and guidance materials for instructors are easily accessible online at http://www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/.
- Support and promote Walk to School Day, Bike to School Day, on-going Active Routes to School Programs and trainings/workshops in your area When working on community and neighborhood site development participate and/or conduct walking/bicycling assessments to help identify and address safety features near schools for bicycle and pedestrian activity Include Active Routes to School Coordinators on your wellness committees (e.g., health and wellness committees) What does this look like in communities across our state? Has anyone worked with an Active Routes regional coordinator on walking and/or biking efforts? What opportunities do you see with your work? Do you have suggestions for how we can continue to build this project in our state?