WALK TO SCHOOL

Let's walk to school again this Friday (May 31st)! Please leave early enough to arrive safely at school by 8:00 a.m. Walking to school is great exercise, and it also helps reduce the number of cars in the carline and keeps our air clean. There will be policemen stationed at different points to assist with walking. Students should plan to go home from school their regular way. Enjoy your walk!
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DID YOU KNOW...? Two recent studies have found that walking to school is associated with higher overall physical activity throughout the day. (In other words: if you start active, you'll stay active.)

There are many potential benefits of physical activity for youth including:

• Weight and blood pressure control
• Bone, muscle, and joint health and maintenance
• Reduction in the risk of diabetes
• Improved psychological welfare
• Better academic performance

SOMETHING ELSE TO THINK ABOUT-------------->

Walking and bicycling to school also may help contribute to the developmental health of children. Some children today have less independence than their parents did and this lack of independence can negatively impact their social behavior development. Driving a child from home to school limits the child's opportunities to interact with their neighborhood and other children. Children who spend more time in supervised structured activities have fewer opportunities to explore their neighborhoods. Children may lose some relatively "safe" opportunities to make decisions independently. They miss some of the lessons gained from learning from mistakes and the confidence that comes with success. Questions also have been raised regarding how children who spend all their travel time in motor vehicles will master fundamental pedestrian and bicycling skills and what kind of drivers they will become because of their lack of experience negotiating traffic as walkers or bicyclists.

(Based on www.saferoutesinfo.org)