Encouragement

A pre-determined parking lot acts as the meeting area for families who drive and then park and walk the remaining distance to school. Some communities require parents to walk with their children to school while others have designated adult volunteers to walk groups of children from the parking area to school.

Mileage clubs and contests encourage children either to begin walking and bicycling to school or to increase their current amount of physical activity by making it fun and rewarding. Generally children track the amount of miles they walk or bicycle and get a small gift or a chance to win a prize after a certain mileage goal is reached.
Mileage clubs and contests are usually designed in one of three ways:

International Walk to School Day, held in October each year, joins children and adults from around the world to celebrate walking and bicycling to school. This event can be a fun way to kick off a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program. In fact, many participating communities use the event to work towards creating safe environments that support walking and bicycling every day.

Encouragement activities play an important role moving the overall Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program forward because they build interest and enthusiasm which can buoy support for changes that might require more time and resources, such as constructing a new sidewalk.

Here is just a sample of activities that communities can create.

This flier provides overview program information, including the definition of Safe Routes to School, the elements of Safe Routes to School programs, and why Safe Routes to School are important.

Get public officials involved and bring visibility to your event by having your mayor or governor proclaim your walking date as the Official International Walk to School Day or Week for your community. Your proclamation can be customized to highlight the walking and biking issues that are important to your school and community.

Walk to School talking points to use in conjunction with Walk to School Day events. Talking points offer helpful information on topics such as trends in school travel, safety, physical activity, environment and air quality, background on the event, Safe Routes to School and a list of participating countries. You may find it helpful to use these for interviews with local media, meetings with parents or any other communications planned for the event.