Last updated: 1st March 2004
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At 7.30 am on Friday January 30, the temperature was zero degrees. An hour later, at 8.30 am, it was still zero degrees. And yet, during this time, 175 students of Grant Elementary School bundled up for the cold weather and walked a combined distance of 85 miles to school.Four weeks later, amid more spring-like conditions, 232 Russell Boulevard Elementary School students walked a combined distance of 195 miles to school. About one half of the Russell students assembled at the Activity and Recreation Center and walked the mile to school with parents, teachers, principal Vickie Robb, Mayor Darwin Hindman, and Marshall, the Mid-Missouri Mavericks' mascot. Similarly, at Grant, a large number of families parked at Osco Drug and walked the quarter-mile up Broadway. This "staging post" idea is a great way for children who live too far away to walk from home, nevertheless to participate in Walk-to-School Events.
PedNet would like to congratulate every student and parent who participated in the Grant and Russell Walk-to-School Days. We would also like to thank Boone County National Bank, Gerbes, and Ecowater for providing breakfast; prize draw sponsors Tryathletics, Mid-Missouri Mavericks, Empire Roller Rink and the Activity and Recreation Center; Columbia Police Dept. for traffic control; and the Grant and Russell Parent-Teachers Associations.
There are many benefits of walking to school. Thirty minutes of physical activity such as walking each day reduces a child's risk for overweight and related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Walking to school as a group offers a great opportunity for kids (and parents) to chat with friends. Fewer cars around school reduces air pollution, traffic congestion, and the risk of a pedestrian injury. Law-abiding pedestrians and cyclists on city streets reduces the risk of crime.
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