Community awareness event taking place on Wednesday, May 8, 2019
A coalition of community partners is planning a “Walking School Bus” on Wednesday, May 8 for students at both South Street Elementary and Park Avenue schools, to highlight the benefits of walking to school. This year Morris Street School is joining in on the morning fun!
- Park Avenue and South Street children, parents, and volunteers will gather at 7:30 am at Danbury City Hall to make the approximately one-mile walk to their schools, picking up other children at stops along the way and carrying a banner that promotes school pride at the event. Volunteer and parent parking for the event is along Deerhill Ave.
- Students, parents and volunteers from Ellsworth will meet at Cornell Memorial Home parking lot located at the corner of White Street and Homestead Avenue at 7:30 am. Parking will be available until 9 am.
- Students attending Morris Street School will join the teachers and volunteers who will start up the Walking Bus at 7:45 am. Students may join them as they pass the Walking School Bus Stop nearest their home and walk to school together.
The event is co-sponsored by the Coalition for Healthy Kids (CHK), Regional YMCA of Western CT, Danbury Public Schools (DPS) and United Way of Western Connecticut (UWWC), City of Danbury and Cornell Memorial Home. Last year 400 students, volunteers and parents embarked on the Walking School Bus. This year organizers are hoping to grow that number by at least 100 with the Morris Street student participation in the event. The walk takes about 20 minutes to complete.
A spin-off of this Walking Event is the UWWC support, of established regular walking school bus routes at Park Avenue School. Parents have been spearheading the effort, with coordination by the outreach worker since May of 2017.
Walking School Buses have been used in other communities across the state and the nation, not just to promote exercise, but to improve school attendance. For instance, if a mother has a sick infant, she may not be able to get her school-age child to the bus or drive her child to school. But if a neighbor stops by the house as part of the walking school bus, the child can get safely to school without the mother ever leaving the house.
ABOUT UNITED WAY OF WESTERN CONNECTICUT
United Way of Western Connecticut (UWWC) helps residents across Northern Fairfield County, Southern Litchfield County and the City of Stamford by focusing on the vital building blocks for a good life: Education, Financial Stability and Health. Our mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the power of caring communities to create lasting change. We are committed to ensuring that every child enters school ready to learn, every family is financially stable, and every community we serve is healthy and strong. For more information about United Way of Western Connecticut, please visit: www.uwwesternct.org. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Instagram. Watch us on YouTube.
ABOUT THE COALITION FOR HEALTHY KIDS
The Coalition for Healthy Kids (CHK) believes that building a healthy family means making choices in food and exercise that will be fun, enjoyable, and prevent poor health or obesity. Obesity is defined as too much body fat, and reports show that obesity can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, poor sleep, or diabetes. Studies also show that healthier children feel better about themselves and their school performance improves. Our members include experts in the field of health and nutrition, along with many community partners. For more information or to join the Coalition for Healthy Kids, please contact Maureen Farrell at the Regional YMCA of Western CT at 203-740-3432 ext. 236 or mfarrell@regionalymca.org