Saturday, October 1, 2011

YMCA Walk to school, Weds Oct 5



Hockomock Area YMCA and local schools celebrate
International Walk to School Day on October 5

   
(Franklin, MA)  Hockomock Area YMCA staff and school leaders and volunteers will join local elementary school children in celebrating the annual International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 5. Participating schools include Oak Street Elementary, Helen Keller Elementary, Davis Thayer Elementary, and Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public Schools all in Franklin as well as Stall Brook Elementary School in Bellingham.

Franklin's Bernon Family Branch of The Hockomock Area YMCA will join the students as well as parents, teachers, and community leaders on the walk from the designed meeting spaces to their schools, ensuring that they have a safe path to school. As part of a strong commitment to the YMCA's Healthy Future's initiative which was developed as a collective community response to the childhood obesity epidemic, YMCA staff will encourage kids to learn about fitness by walking to school with friends.

Walk to School events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of issues such as increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment, and building connections between families, schools, and the broader community.

In the U.S., International Walk to School Day is expected to be celebrated at over 3,500 events at participating schools. Walkers from the U.S. will join children and adults in 40 countries around the world.

For additional information, please contact the Y's Community and Youth Wellness Director Lauren Marciszyn at 774.235.2737 or laurenm@hockymca.org.

For additional information, please visit these Web sites:
International Walk to School in the USA                      www.walktoschool.org                       
National Center for Safe Routes to School                   www.saferoutesinfo.org
International Walk to School                                        www.iwalktoschool.org

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