The town has never, in its history, owned school buses, so streets are designed to ensure that every child can walk or bike to school.
It is August 11th – the day the kids have secretly waiting for (they won’t tell you that though). It’s time for them to go back to school. In our house, that means the youngest hits kindergarten, the middle in 3rd Grade and our oldest in 6th.
Wow.
One of my FAVORITE parts of the school year is the 7 or so minute walk I get to take with my boys as we hoof it to class. A chance to unplug. To chat. To talk about goals for the day, projects they have, what the chatter is on the playground. It is the perfect time for an active wakeup and something I look forward to each summer when it begins to get closer to school.
What this day also means for me is another year of talking about that school commute and a great day to share this Strong Towns piece about Lakewood, OH – the suburb where EVERYONE can walk to school
I was reading through the principal’s newsletter a day or two ago and saw that they “cannot allow parents to walk up to pick up or drop off their student per district procedures.”
I posted this to Facebook last night and it seems that there are several others that are planning to walk / bike their kids to the front door and back each day as well.
I just hope that at some point, we can begin to design experiences around people. Not cars. It is safer, healthier, and better for the community. Our kids deserve better than what we are providing in that regard and I hope that with each new school year comes a bit more draw to less cars around our schools.
If you do find yourself driving around our schools – slow down. Just because it says 25 doesn’t mean you have to go that fast. Don’t block sidewalks and crosswalks while you wait in the long line for your kid to get out of the car. And lastly – look around before you hit that gas pedal. Some of us might be walking!
Good lucks kids. Go crush it this year. Be leaders. Be fearless. Put in the work and enjoy those results. Go be kids.