Crossing Guard Appreciation Day is traditionally held on the first Tuesday of May each year, to recognize and celebrate the invaluable service that crossing guards offer to our communities.  Crossing guards play an important role in the safety of children walking to and from school. Their presence and hard work help to make the trip to school safer, encouraging more students to feel comfortable walking to school more often.

Be on the lookout for an opportunity to nominate your local crossing guard for recognition of outstanding service.  By celebrating Crossing Guard Appreciation Day, we thank our crossing guards for a year of tireless work to keep our children safe!

The national Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program was funded by Congress in 2005 in an effort to create safe environments for American children to walk or bike to school.  Has the program been effective? In New York City, most definitely, according to a new study conducted at the Mailman School of Public Health. Researchers found that the annual rate of injury to school-age pedestrians ages 5 to 19 fell 44% during the peak times for walking to school in neighborhoods where the program was implemented. Significantly, the injury rate did not drop in parts of the city where the SRTS safety program was not in place.

Findings of the report are published online in Pediatrics.

The researchers analyzed motor vehicle crash data for 169,000 pedestrian injuries between 2001 and 2010 for different age groups and neighborhoods with and without SRTS interventions to assess the program’s effectiveness….

“Our data show that interventions to make the built environment safer can greatly reduce injuries to children as they walk to school”, says the lead author of the study, Charles DiMaggio, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology and research director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia.

Check out the article here.

The National Center for Safe Routes to School is pleased to announce the release of The Walking School Bus Program: A Primer and First Steps, an online audio/video training program that provides strategies and tips for planning a Walking School Bus program.

Safety is one of the most common reasons for parents to be reluctant to allow their children to walk to school.  Walking School Bus programs address safety concerns for families who live within walking or bicycling distance of school by providing adult supervision.

A Walking School Bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school or as formal as a well-planned walking route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers.

“More than providing safety, a Walking School Bus is fun for kids as they explore their world and interact with friends on the way to school,” said Nancy Pullen-Seufert , associate director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School.  ‘Kids love it!  And adults love it too, they get a lot out of it.”

The Walking School Bus Program: A Primer and First Steps is available online at

http://apps.saferoutesinfo.org/training/walking_school_bus.

Check it out for your school!  Visit our Resources page for more info, and contact the Ambassadors if you’d like a Safe Routes Ambassadors ToolKit for even more Chicago-specific resources.

Feel free to request a date with the new editable request form and email it to us, or for a list of available dates please email the program coordinator at cody.mcchane@activetrans.org or call 312-744-3019.

Find more information to plan and register your event at www.walktoschool.org, and then get some information about how to plan an even in less than a week here: http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/get-set/plan-the-event/plan-event-in-7-days

It’s easy to celebrate: just make it official and encourage people to walk on October 3! Having activities and giveaways can lead to more walking, but those aren’t necessary for a successful day.

Then, after your celebration, help us collect data from schools across the state so we can show the cumulative benefits of walking to school. Report your event experience here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG1XRjZGakt5WWVSazFnN296aWhValE6MQ

If you have any questions, contact us for assistance in planning and implementing your event.

cody.mcchane@activetrans.org OR angel.montalvo@activetrans.org
312.744.3019

As always, if you have any questions about what we offer or how to schedule, please feel free to email or call the program coordinator at 312-744-3019 or e-mail eric.bjorlin.cdot@activetrans.org.

Be sure to thank your crossing guard for all the hard work they do. For more ideas on how to thank your crossing guard, check out the Active Transportation Alliance’s Crossing Guard Appreciation Day page at: www.activetrans.org/crossingguard

Photos of the Safe Routes Ambassadors celebrating Crossing Guard Appreciation Day, coming soon!

The Chicago Safe Routes to School Toolbox is a workbook of ideas to make walking and biking safer and more fun for kids and communities in Chicago. It includes guidelines on how to implement different projects, who to contact to get help, and plenty of resources for more information.

Contact Chelsea Richer, SRTS Program Coordinator at CDOT, for a hard copy of this Toolbox, or download a digital copy here!

On October 5th, Walk and Bike to School Day, the Safe Routes Ambassadors partnered with Hull House – Uptown Center to host a before-school celebration with posters, breakfast, safety lessons, warm-ups and walking school buses to Stockton and Stewart schools. Alderman Cappleman even paid a visit! This event was successful with support from the Safe Routes for Seniors program at CDOT, the CAPS program at CPD, Caribou Coffee, Alternatives, Inc., AAA Chicago, Clif Bar Kids, Uptown Bikes, and the Illinois Department of Transportation – Division of Traffic Safety.

These partners and others (including Calm Chicago: the Mind & Body Center, Green Monkey Catering, and Holsten Human Capital Development) will be working to make the second event just as successful. On October 31st, students from National Teacher’s Academy and their families will be able to celebrate Walk and Bike to School month at an event at Hilliard Apartments.

The Safe Routes Ambassadors support safe walking and biking throughout the year, not just during Walk and Bike to School month. For more information about the Safe Routes Ambassadors, check out our About Us page!