Mississippi Department of Education
recently added lesson plans to the
Health in Action online database that
are centered on SRTS. These plans
provide teachers with new ways to
fulfill the health instruction
requirements for K-8 students.
The Safe Routes Coaching Action
Network Webinars are designed to
educate individuals and organizations
on topics that will assist with
successful outreach efforts. For more
information about upcoming webinars or
to download previous ones,
visit this resource.
The Mississippi Department of Health
offers school staff and communities
presentations and assemblies for their
students on pedestrian and/or bicycle
safety. The presentations are individualized
and giveaways, which encourage positive
safety habits, are distributed to participating
students. Free downloadable safety tools and
walkability/bikeability checklists are available,
too. For more information on these and other
offerings like bicycle rodeos and walking school
buses, and to schedule an event, contact Babatunde
Fahm at babatunde.fahm@msdh.state.ms.us or
(601) 576-7786.
WalktoSchool.org plan your
walking event to kick start your SRTS program
August 19-21, 2009 Safe Routes to School National
Conference Portland, Oregon
October 7, 2009 International Walk (and Roll) to
School Day
October 2009 International Walk to School
Month
Spring 2010 Mississippi's 1st annual SRTS
Conference Watch for details!
Get Your Posters!
Contact Cookie Leffler to get your copy.
"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day."
-Henry David
Thoreau
Welcome...
to the first
edition of the Mississippi Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Quarterly Newsletter, What's Afoot. We hope this
will be a useful resource to you as you learn more about the benefits of children walking and bicycling to school and as
you develop SRTS programs in your communities. This newsletter will provide you with links to helpful resources; announce
training, conferences and funding cycles; and keep you up-to-date on important issues related to SRTS. Read
More
Mayor Sheriel Perkins, Greenwood, hopes to encourage more children and their families to walk or bike to school
through increased awareness of safe walking habits and by raising driver awareness of children walking to school. The city has come
up with “You plus Two” (U+2), a slogan to encourage students to walk in groups of no more than three, in order to stay out of
moving traffic. More
Details
Learn how Safe
Routes to School programs across the country are changing the habits of an entire generation of school children
and putting thousands of families two steps ahead of health and environmental concerns.
WHEN: August 19, 2009 - August 21, 2009 WHERE: Hilton Portland Executive Tower in Portland, OR
Thematic tracks during the
upcoming conference include:
transportation, infrastructure and safety
empowering families and
youth
education and encouragement
health and evaluation
growing the SRTS movement
If you’re not sure you should attend, here’s what the SRTS project director from Madison had to say about the first conference,
My visit to
the National Conference for Safe Routes to School in Dearborn, Michigan was enlightening and fruitful. The workshops and speakers
provided knowledge that is directly applicable to what we are currently doing here in Madison. Each workshop attended offered
specific instructions and resource materials on how to improve our program in every aspect. This conference actually offered more
hands-on advice than any other type of forum I have attended in the past.
It's that
time again! October 7, 2009 is International Walk (and Roll) to School Day and October is Walk to School Month. Register your Walk
to School event at www.walktoschool.org and receive a box of goodies for your participants and a
tool kit to help you plan. Let's break our record participation set last year--43 schools from 15 communities!
By registering, Walk to School organizers gain access to a variety of downloadable materials, like certificates,
templates for stickers and frequent walker punch card. Registrants can also subscribe to a weekly Walk to School
e-newsletter with tips and resources on holding a Walk to School event.
Since 1997, communities around the country have been celebrating Walk to School Day. In its twelfth year, participation reached a record high with more
than 2,800 events from all fifty states and the District of Columbia registering on the Walk to School Web site (www.walktoschool.org) in 2008. Around the globe, International Walk to School Month brought together more than 40 countries in recognition of the
common interest in walking to school.
Walk to School events are a way for schools and communities to build enthusiasm for walking to school, promote the benefits of walking and bicycling
bring visibility to any safety concerns. More than one-half (55 percent) of events are part of ongoing efforts to promote walking
and bicycling throughout the year. According to a survey by the National Center for Safe Routes to School (www.saferoutesinfo.org), the top three reasons communities participate in Walk to School Day
are: physical activity/obesity prevention, support for a Safe Routes to School program, and pedestrian safety. To register an eventor for more
information on Walk to School activities in the U.S., please visit www.walktoschool.org
SRTS and Bike Walk Mississippi
(BWM) have joined forces to create and distribute your quarterly newsletter to keep you informed. BWM is a statewide advocacy group
that promotes bicycling and walking for fun, fitness and transportation. More
Details
MDOT has awarded $6 million to 24 communities representing 71 schools and 3 statewide organizations.
For more information, visit www.goMDOT.com. Watch for the next SRTS application deadline.
Welcome (continued): In this issue we highlight the upcoming
Walk and Roll to School Day, October 7, 2009. We hope that many of you will plan events in your own community as it’s a great way
to build support for SRTS programs, to change people’s perceptions about their neighborhoods and to start them thinking about the
kind of environment in which they want their children to live.
In every issue we will showcase a
community or one aspect of a community’s program. Reading about others efforts may inspire ideas and possible solutions to
challenges faced in other communities.
We will highlight resources and
programs that can and have been used successfully in Mississippi communities and communities throughout the country as a part of
a SRTS program or to build support for one.
We want to hear from you and find
out what has been successful in your communities, whether as an active SRTS community or not. What are you doing to promote
walking and biking to school in your area? We want to celebrate with you as we work together to encourage more physical activity
in our children, provide safer school drop off points with less traffic congestion, and improve air quality around our
schools.
And finally, we want to know what
your suggestions are for the newsletter. Send your success stories and suggestions to us at cleffler@mdot.state.ms.us Tell us what you would like to see and what would be most
useful to you. Help us support you as you do this important work.
Cookie Leffler
Mississippi Safe Routes to School
Coordinator
Safe Routes : What's Afoot
Quarterly Newsletter, June 2009 A
Project of the MS Department of Transportation Funded by the Federal Highway Administration Produced by Bike Walk Mississippi
Mayor Sheriel Perkins, Greenwood, hopes to encourage more children and their families to walk or bike to school
through increased awareness of safe walking habits and by raising driver awareness of children walking to school. The city has come
up with “You plus Two” (U+2), a slogan to encourage students to walk in groups of no more than three, in order to stay out of
moving traffic. 
the habits of an entire generation of school children
and putting thousands of families two steps ahead of health and environmental concerns.
Around the globe, International Walk to School Month brought together more than 40 countries in recognition of the
common interest in walking to school.
