On Wednesday, October 6th, schools, neighborhoods, and families came together from areas all across the country to celebrate National Walk to School Day and to promote the importance of being physically active. From its beginning in 1997, National Walk to School Day has been an important way to promote and improve the safety and accessibility of communities to increase their physical activity and address issues in the built environment in their local neighborhoods. In North Carolina, 124 organizations registered, committing to walk to school as a way to improve the health, safety, and wellbeing of the entire community. Steps to Health, “NC State University’s SNAP-Ed Program”, collaborated with three Wake County partners.
Salvation Army, Telamon Head Start Cary Parkway, and Telamon Head Start Knightdale to determine ways to participate in this event. Through this collaboration, the Salvation Army program participants walked from the Conn Magnet Elementary School to the Salvation Army Parking lot in Raleigh, NC. Telamon Head Start Cary Parkway students played games such as Freeze Tag, Red Light/Green Light, and Duck Duck Goose in the playground area to increase physical activity, while Telamon Head Start Knightdale students walked the perimeter of their parking lot. Steps to Health looks forward to partnering across the state for Walk to School Day next year. For more information about Steps to Health, visit https://ncstepstohealth.org/.
Submitted by: Breyana Davis, MPH, CHES, Food and Built Environments Extension Associate