Active Transportation for the Next Generation
New Mini-Grants Encourage Students
to Walk and Ride to School
Mini-grants totaling $30,150 have been approved by the Winter Park Health Foundation (WPHF) through its Community Health Policy Work Group to enable seven Winter Park, Maitland and Eatonville area schools to launch and expand programs that encourage students to walk and ride to school.
Local schools were invited to apply for the grants following a How to Help Kids Walk and Ride Safely to School workshop sponsored by WPHF earlier this year. Both the workshop and grants are part of the WPHF Think~Act~Be Healthy Communities initiative designed to inspire community projects that will change the environment and/or culture in ways that encourage healthy behaviors.
The schools receiving Winter Park Health Foundation grants include:
- Aloma Elementary School will receive a grant to support promotion of and prizes awarded in its monthly Walk ‘N Roll Wednesday event which encourages students to walk, roll, skate or scoot to school rather than riding in a car.
- Brookshire Elementary School will receive grant support to help revitalize a Safe Routes to School Program once established by a former parent. Plans call for monthly “Walk and Roll Wednesdays” and introducing The Walking School Bus concept.
- Dommerich Elementary School will receive a grant to help purchase and install “an aesthetically appealing bike shelter to showcase the value that the school, students and community place on bike commuting.”
- Hungerford Elementary School will receive a grant to improve safe walking conditions by upgrading the school cross walk and pavement markings, as well as providing a flashing beacon to slow down traffic.
- Glenridge Middle School will receive grant support to provide new safety equipment as well as materials to launch a Walk ‘n Roll program.
- Maitland Middle School will receive a grant to “fund the installation of a highly visible, donated bike shelter atop a new and appealing bike rack” to “upgrade the status of the bike rider.”
- Winter Park High School, in hopes of launching a “Bike it Back to School” campaign, will receive a grant to cover the cost of security cameras, a DVR and bicycle racks for the bike corral so students know their bicycles will be secure at school.
For more about Walk-n-Roll Wednesdays, see Teach Your Children Well. For more about the Safe Routes to School Mini-grants, see The Safe Routes to School Initiative—From Idea to Action. To get involved with your school’s program, the grantee contact information is here.
The Winter Park Health Foundation’s mission is to make a positive difference in people’s lives by creating the healthiest community in the United States.