Foxboro YMCA, Local Schools to Celebrate Massachusetts Walk to School Day

Foxboro, Sharon and Mansfield Elementary Schools will be joining schools from around the Commonwealth to celebrate Massachusetts Walk and Bicycle to School Day on May 4, 2011, as part of the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program.   

Students and their families will be walking or bicycling to school along with parents, teachers, Y staff and community leaders.  Families are encouraged to walk from home if they reside 1 mile from school, or make plans to walk from a friend or neighbors house.  The Foxboro YMCA and school officials have also designated specific meeting locations throughout the town for families to meet at and continue the walk to school which ranges from ¾ mile to 1 ¼ mile.  All routes will have YMCA staff and school/community volunteers as crossing guards and leaders.  

In Foxboro, the event will begin at with kids, parents and community leaders walking from the following locations:

Burrell School- Meet at Cannon Forge Recreation Center at 8:20am and leave at 8:30am.   

Igo School - Meet at the Foxboro YMCA at 8:10am and leave at 8:20am

Taylor School- Meet at Water Street at 8:25am, Fairway Lane at 8:25am and Paula Lane at 8:15am

In Mansfield, families are invited to meet at the Municipal Parking Lot on N. Main Street (next to Mansfield Bank) at 7:30 and walk to Jordan Jackson at 7:45am. Families are encouraged to walk from other locations within 1 mile of school as well.   

Sharon Elementary Schools are celebrating Massachusetts Walk to School Day in a variety of ways.  Heights Elementary School will be launching a new program titled “Stepping to New Heights” during all recesses on May 4th.  Stepping to New Heights is a walking program aimed at educating students on the benefits of activity & the use of pedometers and was due in part to Heights Elementary being awarded a National Safe Routes to School Grant in the fall of 2010. East Elementary School organized a Go Green Walk on Friday, April 29th in an effort to raise awareness for Green Week, in addition to celebrating Massachusetts Walk to School Day.

Cottage Street Elementary will be celebrating Walk to School with four different meeting locations on May 4th:

Beach Street Park at the base of Lake Massapoag, Alice’s Restaurant at 27 Pond Street, the intersection of Glendale and Summit, and Mann’s Pond on Billings St.  Students riding the bus will also have the opportunity to participate by receiving a permission slip with guardian permission to be dropped off at the meeting locations.  

Safe Routes to School is designed to address pressing transportation and public health issues. In 1969, 42 percent of American students bicycled or walked to school, but today, less than 16% of children walk or bicycle to classes. Nationally, 19% of children age 6-11 years are overweight, more than triple the percentages from 1969. In Massachusetts, almost one-third of high school and middle school students are overweight or obese. And in some communities, school-related traffic can contribute up to 25 percent of morning rush hour traffic volumes, as well as significant air pollution. 

Massachusetts established the Commonwealth’s Walk and Bicycle to School Day in 2007.  Since then, partner schools have conducted over 500 walking and bicycling events to celebrate Walk and Bicycle to School Day.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program, the Invensys Foxboro YMCA and the Towns of Sharon, Foxboro and Mansfield School Departments are organizing the event.  There are over 380 elementary and middle schools across the state working with Safe Routes to School, organizing activities and events to encourage students to walk and bicycle to school.  

Foxboro, Sharon and Mansfield Elementary Schools & the YMCA partner throughout the year to educate families on healthy living and provide opportunities for family to increase physical activity. 

For additional local information, contact Caitlin Hurley, Director of Youth and Community Wellness at 508-772-1351.