May is Walk + Bike to School Challenge Month

Beginning May 1st, Troutdale School will join with elementary and middle schools across Oregon in participating in the Walk + Bike to School Challenge Month. Throughout May, we will be encouraging students and their families to use “active transportation” to travel to and from school.

This statewide initiative recognizes the benefits of walking and biking to school: physical exercise, less traffic congestion around the school, and reduced pollution caused by automobiles. And, when combined with a school-wide traffic safety education program, it will result in students who are better able to move about within the neighborhood safely.

With the help of grant funding provided by ODOT – Transportation Safety Division, Troutdale School’s activities will include:
• Traffic safety education sessions taught to every classroom
• A friendly month-long competition encouraging students (and parents) to walk or bike to and from school
• Two school assemblies by Trauma Nurses Talk Tough on the need for children to wear helmets when riding on bicycles
• A school-wide bicycle helmet sales drive ($5/helmet) sponsored by Trauma Nurses Talk Tough, culminating with a sales event before school on May 8th
• A special event on May 18th, called the Walking School Bus, in which parent volunteers lead groups of students along designated “safe routes” from home to school with various “bus stops” along the way

The ODOT grant funding has allowed us to hire Melissa Paselk as our project coordinator. Melissa is busy planning the safety education classes with school counselor Cate Morris. She is also purchasing a number of incentives and prizes to encourage student participation. The grant funding will also allow us to distribute a limited quantity of maps of the recommended safest walking routes from various Troutdale neighborhoods to our school.

This project is intended to benefit the children of our school, but ultimately its success will depend upon parent involvement and cooperation. The front of our school is a pretty busy place before and after school each day. Adults in cars play an important part in the safety of our pedestrians—big and small—by following the traffic laws regarding School Zones and keeping an eye out for students on bike or on foot.