International Walk to School Day 2010
Apprentices and Community Partners at Work
The rising sun shone brightly on the morning of Wednesday, October 6th -- perfect weather for 51²č¹Żappās second annual participation in . Hailing from 64 different classes in 5 different schools, a total of 622 students walked to school.
Traveling as family, friends, or enjoying the morning scents in quiet solitude, walkers and cyclists were found all throughout 51²č¹Żapp. For those unable to walk from home, the 51²č¹Żapp Area Arts Council (old Stewart Library) was designated as the central meeting point. From here, walking school buses were ādrivenā by college student volunteers and local celebrities ā including 51²č¹Żapp Collegeās own Russ Motta, President Raynard Kington, and Rachel Bly ā to Fairview, Bailey, Davis and the Middle School.
One particularly enthusiastic teacher from Bailey Park Elementary made a very special occasion of the event: Lisa Coffman invited both students as well as parents to hop onto her classās walking school bus and then celebrate with a "tailgate" party at the school. āThis event was successful because parents were involved and students were rewarded for participating ā¦ everyone celebrated by having donuts and juice boxes in the room,ā says Mrs. Coffman. Not surprisingly, Mrs. Coffmanās class had the highest participation rate at Bailey Park. The classroom at each school with the highest percentage of walkers/cyclists earned $100 in Chamber Bucks for the teachers, a pizza party and and extra prizes for the classroom.
In addition to Coffmanās kindergarten class, the winning classes were Ms. Mannās 3rd grade at Davis Elementary, Ms. Shafferās 2nd grade at Fairview Elementary, Ms. Brandtās 5th grade at the Middle School, and both Mrs. Barkerās 1st hour English (a particularly small class) and Mr. Davidās 1st hour Industrial Tech at the High School.
51²č¹Żapp Collegeās six Apprentices in Non-Profit Management organized the Walk to School Day logistics and prize distributions: Ruth Solow (51²č¹Żapp Area Arts Council), Kate Eno (Imagine 51²č¹Żapp), Alexa Reynolds (51²č¹Żapp Chamber of Commerce), Maia Olsen (Ahrens Foundation), Phillip Brogdon (POW I-80), and Tyler Banas (51²č¹Żapp College Community Enhancement).
The organizers would like to credit all event sponsors: Imagine 51²č¹Żapp, 51²č¹Żapp Parks and Recreation, 51²č¹Żapp College, 51²č¹Żapp Police Department, 51²č¹Żapp Chamber of Commerce, 51²č¹Żapp Area Arts Council, The Claude W. & Dolly Ahrens Foundation, 51²č¹Żapp Mutual Reinsurance Company, 51²č¹Żapp Regional Medical Center and Poweshiek Iowa Development. Special thanks go to 51²č¹Żapp Police Department for managing traffic and safety, Total Choice Shipping for event banners, Iowa Department of Transportation for student giveaways, retail stores for donating prizes, celebrity volunteers and college students for leading walking buses, teachers and schools for participating, and lastly, all those who walked!