News
ENLARGE
On Wednesday, crowds of students and parents will be spotted walking and biking to school around Summit County for International Walk to School Day, an event praised by First Lady Michelle Obama for encouraging physical activity among children.
Summit Cove, Upper Blue and Silverthorne elementaries are all signed up for the day; Frisco Elementary is celebrating a week later on Oct. 12. Children and parents will meet up at designated areas to walk, or bike, to school, thus incorporating students who would normally live too far away to participate.
“What a wonderful way for us to start our day together,” Kerry Buhler, principal at Upper Blue said.
The event started in 1997 and is celebrated at middle and elementary schools around the world.
“We give them stickers and wristbands and bracelets, and then we reward them with a healthy breakfast when they get to school,” Colleen True, Summit Cove Elementary School Wellness Committee coordinator said of the event at Summit Cove. That day, teachers will put more focus on healthy activities and safety.
The event isn't only for the kids, but for the environment, since fewer cars will be out and about.
True, who works as an administrative programs assistant for the Summit Prevention Alliance, said she hopes the day inspires people to support road improvements in Summit Cove, so there's more room to walk and bike around the neighborhood on a yearly basis.
Parent Kelly Lau, who has two children attending Silverthorne Elementary, said her kids ride their bikes to school every day, but still love the event because all of their friends, and their principal, joins in. Participation helps gets the message out to kids about exercising a little every day, she said.
“It's well-received by the school and the students,” Lau said. “It's just a different way to go to school.”
In Summit Cove, buses will drop children off at a few different intersections — Whispering Pines and Cove or Summit Drive and Vail Circle — before walking the last few hundred yards.
In Silverthorne, bikers will meet up at 8 a.m. at Willow Grove Open Space, while both bikers and walkers will meet at 8:15 a.m. at Trent Park.
Upper Blue students are meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the Breckenridge Recreation Center.
Summit Cove, Upper Blue and Silverthorne elementaries are all signed up for the day; Frisco Elementary is celebrating a week later on Oct. 12. Children and parents will meet up at designated areas to walk, or bike, to school, thus incorporating students who would normally live too far away to participate.
“What a wonderful way for us to start our day together,” Kerry Buhler, principal at Upper Blue said.
The event started in 1997 and is celebrated at middle and elementary schools around the world.
“We give them stickers and wristbands and bracelets, and then we reward them with a healthy breakfast when they get to school,” Colleen True, Summit Cove Elementary School Wellness Committee coordinator said of the event at Summit Cove. That day, teachers will put more focus on healthy activities and safety.
The event isn't only for the kids, but for the environment, since fewer cars will be out and about.
True, who works as an administrative programs assistant for the Summit Prevention Alliance, said she hopes the day inspires people to support road improvements in Summit Cove, so there's more room to walk and bike around the neighborhood on a yearly basis.
Parent Kelly Lau, who has two children attending Silverthorne Elementary, said her kids ride their bikes to school every day, but still love the event because all of their friends, and their principal, joins in. Participation helps gets the message out to kids about exercising a little every day, she said.
“It's well-received by the school and the students,” Lau said. “It's just a different way to go to school.”
In Summit Cove, buses will drop children off at a few different intersections — Whispering Pines and Cove or Summit Drive and Vail Circle — before walking the last few hundred yards.
In Silverthorne, bikers will meet up at 8 a.m. at Willow Grove Open Space, while both bikers and walkers will meet at 8:15 a.m. at Trent Park.
Upper Blue students are meeting at 8:30 a.m. at the Breckenridge Recreation Center.
