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Walking to school on a Safe Route

Sumner School District partnered with city to create a good environment for the littlest pedestrians

By Avani Nadkarni/of The Herald

On any given morning before school or after the last bell at Daffodil Valley Elementary School, Shari Marble can be seeen walking with her quartet of sons.

With 4-year-old Michael and 2-year-old Matthew in tow, Marble walks her two school-aged children, 9-year-old Casey and 8-year-old Timmy, to the elementary school. Her job has gotten easier, she said, since Principal Marcie Belfield and the faculty at Daffodil Valley have been stressing the importance of pedestrian safety in preparation for the district’s Walk to School Week, being held May 6 to 13.

Sumner School District Communications Director Ann Cook said Walk to School Week came about as a celebration of Safe Routes to School, the city-obtained state grant to help municipalities build safer sidewalks and routes to area schools.

“The sidewalks are so much better here,” Belfield said, gesturing to a paved area outside of her office. “When I started there 10 years ago, that was all blackberry bushes. (The event) is just to talk to the kids about safety now that we have easier walking access.”

The city of Sumner applied for the Safe Routes to School grant four years ago and in 2007 the state legislature put Sumner on the list as one of the cities getting funding.

“Safe Routes is based on the three E’s: Engineering, enforcement and education,” said Carmen Palmer, communications director for the city of Sumner.

The first, engineering, came from the public works department, who filled in missing sidewalk gaps and added crosswalk improvements. The second, enforcement, came from the police department, which used part of the grant to fund speed trailers to show drivers how fast they were going and encourage them to slow down around schools. The third, education, is taking place with Walk to School Week, Palmer added.

“We’re relying heavily on our partnership with the school district for that (education) piece,” Palmer said. “Then there’s (also) educating the public at large so that again, drivers do their part in slowing down, watching crosswalks...so that walkers are safe.”

The city also held a contest that asked children to come up with artwork to encourage their peers to walk to school. Palmer is working on reprinting the winners on placemats to put on tables in area restaurants like Aversano’s, Berryland Cafe, Dixie’s Home Cookin’ and Midtown Station.

“The nice thing about this effort is that these are places frequented by locals,” she said. “So while the placemat art and message is encouraging kids to walk, they are also in a place where they can immediately talk to their family and maybe adults and kids can together make the decision to try walking to school.”

Parent Angelina Barriga, who walks with 7-year-old Dennys between the school and their nearby apartment, said she feels safer sending her child on the trek to school.

“Now with the (flashing) lights there, the cars actually stop so it feels safer,” she said. “I always talk about safety and make sure they know...cars don’t always stop.”

Belfield said while safety is the main concern, she is also talking to children about the health aspect of walking to school during her daily morning announcements. Marble said that’s one of the main reasons she doesn’t drive her boys to school.

“It’s more time to spend with them and it’s a waste of gas to drive so close,” Marble said. “It also is a good way to get them outside and walking.”

Walk to School Week will kick off Thursday with student leaders and cheerleaders from Sumner High School greeting walking students at both Daffodil Valley and Maple Lawn elementaries at the door. “We wanted to make it kind of an event,” Cook said. “We wanted to make the walkers feel good about doing it.”

At Daffodil Valley, Belfield has another concern that many area schools don’t face: Railroad tracks.

“The railroad tracks on Zehnder Street aren’t necessarily part of the Safe Routes, but I do see our kids walking from school to the library and other places over the tracks,” Belfield said.

For that reason, the principal took a group of second- and third-graders to the Auburn Amtrak station to learn about railroad and train safety. The children will share their knowledge with the rest of their peers at an upcoming assembly.

“We want to encourage kids to walk to school, especially now in the spring and we want to make sure those that do walk are safe,” Belfield said. “We have lots of groups of kids walking together; sometimes one parent will walk with a group of kids that live in the same area. In the spring, our bike racks are full, too. I think the kids really like to walk to school.”