An Upper Peninsula school is among seventeen in the state to be awarded a chunk of federal Safe Routes to School funding through the
Michigan Department of Transportation.
In conjunction with the
Michigan Fitness Foundation, the schools are getting mini-grants with the purpose of encouraging more students to walk or bike to school instead of driving, being driven or taking the bus--programs that have dual purposes of increasing youth fitness, and also decreasing motorized transportation by making it safer for children to get to school. Most often, that means improving walkability and bikeability in the surrounding neighborhoods or communities.
The Norway Schools in Dickinson County will receive about $5,000 to develop a weekly "Walking School Bus" program. A walking school bus is a group of children who walk together to school, supervised by trained adult volunteers, with designated routes, timetables and meeting points. Parents and community leaders help with the routes, using reflective vests and safety signs, and students get pedometers to measure their walk and water bottles to use while walking. The weekly program aims to encourage students to get dropped off at walking school bus stops once a week and walk to school from there.
The grants are executed with the involvement of schools, neighborhoods, students, teachers, parents, school transportation directors and local law enforcement agencies. The other schools which received mini-grants are all downstate, in Flint, Holt, Pontiac, Chelsea, Dexter, Detroit, and Inkster.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Michigan Department of Transportation
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