Walk to School Day takes active step forward

Kids at Chapel Hill’s Rashkis Elementary School joined thousands of other students around the world Wednesday to promote walking to school.

International Walk to School Day is an annual event aimed at getting children active and raising awareness for the need for walkable communities. Each year, thousands of Walk to School Days are held in more than 40 countries around the world.

Rashkis Elementary School encouraged its students to “walkpool” to school with their families and friends.

Kim Caddell, receptionist at Rashkis Elementary, said a majority of students at the school live within walking distance, but many of them are typically dropped off at school in a vehicle. Wednesday, many of those students walked or biked instead.

“They had their parents with them, and they walked in families together,” she said. “Kind of like a carpool except they were walking.”

Caddell said getting exercise in the morning gets the kids’ days started off right.

“We’re doing it to encourage healthy living and promote healthy lifestyles,” Caddell said.

This is the first year Rashkis has held the event. Caddell said about 100 students participated in this morning’s walk. Each student who participated received a certificate at the end of the day.

Kim Eheman, whose two sons attend the school, said walking to and from school is an important part of her kids’ daily routine.

“The walk to school gets the kids prepared to learn,” she said. “It gets their bodies moving and their blood flowing. On the way home, it gives them time to socialize with the neighbors.”

Karin Pfennig said she walks her two daughters to school at Rashkis every day because they live in the same neighborhood as the school. She said good events like these remind people of walking as an alternative to driving.

“I certainly think it’s fun to advertise and make a point for people to walk to school,” she said.

Many of the students who attend Rashkis live in Meadowmont Village, a neighborhood less than a mile from the school.

“Pretty much anyone in the neighborhood can walk to school,” Eheman said. “We actually picked our house in Meadowmont because we could walk to school.”

Several other Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also celebrated Walk to School Day, said the district’s spokesman, Jeffrey Nash.

Nash said that, like Rashkis, most schools in the district are neighborhood schools and are not on main highways, making it easier for students to walk to them.

“Coming from Wake County, I think this is a piece of cake,” he said.

But Eheman said walking to school is not possible for all students.

“Kids who (ride) on the bus for 20 minutes to get to school, that’s not feasible for them,” she said.

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