Sandpoint walks the walk in getting healthy

The legendary walk to school. How many of us have heard the stories from our parents or grandparents; "I had to walk seven miles to school uphill through snow, rain, and hail!"

Thankfully these stories have gone by the wayside with modern conveniences. Now we simply herd our children into the car in the morning and drop them off on our way to work. While this may sound like a safer routine, the downside is that children are no longer getting the health benefits of that morning walk.

International Walk to School Day takes place on Oct. 5, 2005, and our area schools are taking part in a big way. Students from Farmin Stidwell, Washington, and Kootenai elementary schools, as well as Lake Pend Oreille High School and Sandpoint Charter and middle schools will join millions of children all over the world in celebration of the simple act of walking to school. The event began in England nine years ago as an incentive for children to get outside for some exercise. A couple of years later, the event has grown to include students from 37 countries and six continents. This is a day when students, parents, teachers and area professionals take the time to learn about physical fitness and have a great time doing it!

"Walk to School Day is fun," says one Washington Elementary fourth grader.

"We get to walk to school with all of our friends and neighbors — it's kind of like a big party."

This is just the kind of attitude that makes the event so successful year after year. If kids think of physical activity as a fun thing to do, they are more likely to be active in their free time. With all the easily available sedentary activities such as television and video games, kids are much less likely to go outside to play. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 25 percent of school age kids do not participate in any physical activity outside school hours. The rise of childhood obesity and related diseases like diabetes makes the need for exercise awareness very apparent. The hope is that parents and children will make a habit of exercising together.

In our day and age, physical fitness often takes a back seat to safety concerns. Even though we live in a safe area, we hear stories of child abductions, kidnappings and even murders on the nightly news. Many parents fear that allowing their children to walk to school may put them in harm's way.

"By walking with our children and taking note of the route and surroundings, we are taking back the neighborhoods that should be safe places for our children to laugh, play and grow up, " says Molly O'Reilly, a avid walker and supporter of International Walk to School Day.

We can teach them how to walk safely by explaining about traffic signage, staying away from strangers and the importance of using designated sidewalks and crosswalks. The walk will also help make our roads safer by calling attention to road and infrastructure issues.

O'Reilly explains, "It's important to find out some of the challenges our kids face in walking to school. They may have to cross busy highways or intersections and this will help us figure out how to make our area safer for kids and other pedestrians."

This year the Sandpoint area hopes to have the largest participation in all of Idaho. Careful planning has facilitated this great turn out. For those who live outside of town or regularly take the bus to school, there are pre-arranged meeting places where adult volunteers will accompany kids to school. Kids who live in town can either walk from home or join a designated walking group. The goal is to get everyone to walk, even if it's not a great distance.

At Farmin Stidwell, for example, the plan is for the kids to do laps around the field with an adult. Participants from all locations are rewarded for their efforts with cool reflective zipper pulls and juice.

The Rotary Club of Sandpoint and Bonner General Hospital are successfully working with the schools to ensure that the event runs smoothly and safely. It takes quite a bit of organizing to get 1800 people in the right place at the right time.

Bonner General CEO, Sheryl Rickard sums it up by saying "International Walk to School Day is a great way to get together as a community to encourage a life-long dedication to the health of ourselves and the environment."