Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS)
Riley Elementary School: The SRTS Plan for Riley
Elementary in Macon has been completed. The Riley SRTS Plan can be
viewed by clicking on the following link: Riley SRTS Plan. The Plan
implementation process kicked off on August 6, 2008 at the Riley
Back-to-School Round-up. At the Round-up, parents and their children
received information on bicycle and pedestrian safety and talked to
representatives from the Macon Police Department, Bibb County Board
of Education Campus Police Department, the Bibb County Board of
Education Central Office and the Middle Georgia RDC on how they
could become involved in the Riley Elementary SRTS program.
At its first meeting of the year, the Riley PTO invited
representatives from the Middle Georgia Clean Cities Coalition and
the Bibb County Health Department to speak on the environmental and
health benefits of the Safe Routes to School Program, respectively.
An important note made during the presentation by the Health
Department representative was the fact that there has been a
significant increase in the incidences of Type 2 diabetes, high
blood pressure and strokes among school-age children due in large
part to the lack of physical activity. The Health Department
representative stated that the SRTS program can help with this
problem by providing children with an important source of physical
activity.
The Riley SRTS Team is currently making
arrangements for the October 2nd Walk To School Event in celebration
of International Walk to School Month. The festivities will include
children and parents walking to school utilizing four walking school
buses led by a SRTS Team member as the “bus driver” and carrying a
banner developed by the Riley students. The students will be
displaying a SRTS poster in which they made. Special guests from
both state and local government have been invited to participate.
Following the walk to school, there will be a rally in the school
cafetorium featuring SRTS cheers and songs, remarks from the special
guests, proclamations for International Walk to School Month,
refreshments and giveaways.
New SRTS
Plans In FY 09, the Middle Georgia RDC is coordinating
with the Bibb County Board of Education and its various community
partners to develop two new Safe Routes to School Plans for Barden/Burghard Elementary Schools and
Danforth Elementary/Appling Middle Schools.
At this time,
the Barden SRTS Team has been formed. On September 9th, the SRTS
Team held it organizational meeting where a briefing was given on
the Georgia SRTS Program and the role of the SRTS Team. In addition,
the date and agenda for the SRTS Parent/Neighborhood meeting was
set.
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