School Highlights
BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY 2011
347 students at Peabody School rode their bikes on Bike to School Day 2011 in spite of the rain!
“What a fantastic event,” “The kids were so excited,” “The principal walked with the kids,” “I look forward to be involved next year,”! These are quotes from people who participated in the 7th annual Bike to School Day. Students from twenty four elementary and junior high schools in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Montecito participated in the event. On Monday, May 16, the day prior to Bike to School Day, the sky clouded over and rain was in the forecast. Some schools decided to postpone their event for a week but most went forward with the original plan and kept toes and fingers crossed. It turned out to be a damp morning, but no rain- unlike last year when rain poured down during Bike to School Day. Who would have thought we’d get rain two consecutive years at the end of May? All schools had a strong turnout, but organizers felt there would have been even more participation had the weather been more conducive to cycling.
This was a true community event. Parents at some of the schools organized bike trains and walking school busses. The principals at Foothill and Cold Spring Schools walked and biked with their students. How fun was that for those kids! Former mayor Marty Blum led a walking school bus with students from Monroe School. An officer from the Goleta Sherriff’s unit led a bike train to Kellogg School. Seven members of the UCSB Cycling Team led bike trains at Foothill and Harding Schools. Local bike shops were in on the fun this year too. Julian from Velo Pro Cyclery in Goleta and Evan Minogue from Wheelhouse led bike trains for Hollister School and SB Junior High. Bruce Davies from Hazard’s Cyclesport ordered the “incentives:” There were spoke beads and compass bells for the younger kids and LED valve stems and reflective ankle straps for the older kids, all at cost. Traffic Solutions awarded COAST a grant to purchase the incentives, which were mostly used as raffle prizes for the students who came by foot or on bike. Each school had a group of volunteers who organized the event at their school. Whole Foods donated snacks for participating students at Adams School. Yes, this was a community event! We thank all our donors who helped make this event such a success.
Bike to School Day was one of many bike events during CycleMAYnia, a month-long celebration of the bicycle in Santa Barbara.
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WALK TO SCHOOL DAY 2010
On Wednesday, October 6, under soggy, gray skies children all over SB County participated in Walk to School Day. Reports from those who walked on Wednesday said the kids were so proud, not only to have walked to school, but to have walked in the rain! A BIG thank you goes to COAST’s Safe Routes to School coordinator Kim Stanley who worked with school staff, parents, and businesses in order to pull off such an important event. DECKERS Outdoor Corp was our sponsor with additional support from Cottage Health Systems, Clif Bars, Lil Toot and Blenders. HOORAY to the schools that participated: Adams, Brandon, Cleveland, Cold Spring, El Camino, Ellwood, Foothill, Goleta Family School, Harding, Hollister, Hope, Isla Vista, Kellogg, Monroe, Montecito Union, Monte Vista, Mountain View, Peabody, Santa Barbara Charter, Vieja Valley, Washington, Goleta Valley JH, La Colina JH, La Cumbre JH. A few schools rescheduled due to weather.
Highlights:
- Cold Spring School had 45% of all students participate!
- newcomer to SR2S Adams School had 108 walkers, 50 of which were in one walking school bus
- Brandon boasted 176 walkers and raffled prizes that students went to the office to pick up, causing quite a lot of hoopla!
- Montecito Union had 56 – Imagine how many more will be able to walk safely after the San Ysidro Road path is added.
Photo: Hollister School.
We thank our Walk to School Day sponsor,
With additional support from Cottage Health Systems and Clif Bars.
Biking at Goleta Valley Junior High School
This group of four to six students bikes every day to GVJH from the Mountain View area, a ride that takes about fifteen minutes. The students do it because it is fun to ride with friends, and they don’t have to wait for mom in the pick-up line.
Another, larger group of 20 to 25 kids meets every morning in front of one kid’s home. Last year, a group of 10-12 boys would faithfully ride together daily from this house, but this year, word got out and now, over 20 kids are showing up every morning with the addition of girls too. Last spring, the group arrived a little earlier one morning, so parent Cristi Smith fed them all breakfast. She is a little worried about feeding twenty plus kids this year, but she says she will consider it a privilege.
BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY 2010 at Goleta Valley Junior High School
GVJH students who ride their bikes to school made this map, inviting others to join them.
These students would not let the rainy weather dampen their mood. GVJH is a great place for biking!
The student newspaper carried this article about the map:
Walk to School events at Cleveland School
COAST has been working with Cleveland School to build a Safe Routes to School Program under a g
rant from the Orfalea Foundation. On November 18, 2010, the school celebrated its first ever walk to to school day. We had 55% of the students walking, not counting all the parents and siblings that joined in the fun. (Before, the number had been around 15%.) Another indicator of success? A drop-off loop at 8:15 am, normally jammed with cars at this time, stood empty in the fog. The student leadership council posted cut-out feet around campus to motivate their peers, teachers encouraged their kids, moms from the PTA and English Learner’s class helped greet kids and hand out raffle tickets. Best off all, Principal Mike Vail led a Walking School Bus with more than twenty kids! (Pictured.)
rant from the Orfalea Foundation. On November 18, 2010, the school celebrated its first ever walk to to school day. We had 55% of the students walking, not counting all the parents and siblings that joined in the fun. (Before, the number had been around 15%.) Another indicator of success? A drop-off loop at 8:15 am, normally jammed with cars at this time, stood empty in the fog. The student leadership council posted cut-out feet around campus to motivate their peers, teachers encouraged their kids, moms from the PTA and English Learner’s class helped greet kids and hand out raffle tickets. Best off all, Principal Mike Vail led a Walking School Bus with more than twenty kids! (Pictured.)
Last Wednesday, shortly after the morning bell rang at Cleveland Elementary School, hundreds of students surrounded principal Michael Vail as he announced the winner of the first Walk to School Day Challenge. Cheers erupted as students heard that the winning class (with 65% of the students participating) would receive smoothies later that day (picture). Each of the 3rd and 4th graders in the winning class received a Blenders in the Grass smoothie (donated!!) for being the class with the most participation for Walk to School Day (picture).
Since COAST’s Safe Routes to School Day launched the Cleveland program in the middle of November, Cleveland has experienced a steady increase in students walking to school. At the beginning of the project COAST spent hours talking with parents about how they got to school, what they liked about the route and what would make it better. Increasing the number of students walking to school is a goal as is making it safer and more appealing for families as many of them use the highly trafficked Salinas and cross at Clifton (with the help of crossing guard Ms. Hazel).
Students that walk have been “caught” saying such things as, “I love racing my friends up the hill to school”, “Walking warms me up in the morning”, “My mom didn’t want to walk but I made her come with me” and “I feel better when I walk to school” – all great reinforcement that the children, and families, are appreciating the benefits that a simple walk to school can provide.