CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Dozens of children met Friday morning to walk together to Blythe-Bower Elementary School.
While that may sound routine, this time it was a celebration that marked the completion of Cleveland’s first Safe Routes to Schools project.
The project, funded with a Tennessee Department of Transportation grant, is part of a national initiative to reintroduce bicycles and foot power to those morning trips to school wherever possible.
Principal Kelly Kiser, who came out to walk with the children, said the effort is “about giving families opportunities to get involved in education. Being healthy is a big part of that. And families get together. It’s the best of all those worlds rolled into one.”
Charity and Faith Eaves came out with their mother Emily to walk with others from the Century Village neighborhood.
Sidewalks, completed during the summer by the city’s Public Works Department, are a big deal in getting residents out and about, Eaves said.
“I’m hoping we will have a neighborhood group that walks together,” she said.
Destinee Joiner, secretary for the Blythe-Bower Parent-Teacher Organization, said that’s a second benefit to Safe Routes to Schools.
“I think it’s going to be a great neighborhood connectivity,” she said. “As more and more do walk, they are going to start opening up conversations and know their neighbors; the whole ‘village raising the kids’ concept.”
In two other locations, people gathered to walk to Blythe-Bower on the new sidewalks and beneath bright lights, too.
On Thursday afternoon, more than 600 students from the elementary school held a pep rally about walking for good health. Cleveland High School cheerleaders joined in with some cheers composed just for the event. Some teachers organized a flash mob dance to the tune of “Footloose.” Fifth-graders wrote a rap about walking to school.
Teresa Torbett, coordinator of the city’s Community Block Development Grant programs, said the city is applying now for a second Safe Routes to School program. This one, if it is approved, would be for the Arnold Memorial Elementary School neighborhoods.
Friday’s celebration is not a one-time event, said Amy Hicks, coordinated school health director for Cleveland City Schools. Coming soon will be a mileage club for the school, including an indoor route through the sprawling building.
There also are T-shirts for faculty, staff and kids promoting walking. Each child has a water bottle on his teacher’s desk.
“We encourage them to drink water throughout the day,” Hicks said. “Research shows drinking water helps learning.”