October is International Walk to School Month and on Wednesday, October 5, more than a thousand schools across the world participated in Walk to School events.

More than 50 schools across Washington State held special Walk to School activities on Wednesday, 16 of which were in the city of Seattle.

Activities ranged from walking school buses to school assemblies and all focused on student health and safety.

The U.S. participated in its first Walk to School celebration in 1997 as a way to bring community leaders and children together to build awareness about walkable communities. 

Walk to School Month celebrates efforts to increase physical activity, clean air, pedestrian safety, and connections between families, school and the broader community, all while reducing traffic congestion around schools.

At West Woodland Elementary School students arrived by bike, bus, or in 'walking school buses' on Wednesday morning. Students were greeted with stickers and second breakfast of breadsticks once they arrived at the school.

At the door of each classroom students who walked or biked to school make a check-mark on a sign-in sheet. At the end of "Walk and Wheel Month", these check-marks will be tallied up and the class with the highest number of walkers will win a prize.

“It’s really inspiring for the kids and parents to watch the numbers add up over the month,” said Sheila Cain, one of the coordinators for Walk and Wheel Month and mom of West Woodland students.

West Woodland Elementary has been celebrating Walk and Wheel Month since 2003 and every year it has seen more and more participants.

“On any given morning, you can see up to 30 kids arriving together in one of many ‘walking school buses,’ said Cain. “Walking and biking to school encourages kids to get active - it also teaches them first hand about protecting our environment.”

Ballardite Kathleen Ridihalgh is a Senior Organizing Manager at the Sierra Club, the Nation’s largest and oldest grassroots environmental organization, and she is celebrating this month by walking her two kids from her Ballard home to West Woodland Elementary in Phinney Ridge each morning.

“It’s inspiring to follow our kids’ examples and think about all of the solutions to getting off oil,” said Ridihalgh, “Our cars should be cleaner and more efficient and these standards deliver that - but as adults, we should be reliving those days of walking, biking or bussing to school.”

For more information about walking to school and safe walking routes in your neighborhood, please visit the following websites:


- WSDOT Safe Routes to School Resource - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/localprograms/saferoutes/
- Feet First http://feetfirst.info/maps
- Walk to School USA http://www.walktoschool.org