Safe Route to School Grants Awarded to two Columbia Schools
The National Center for Safe Routes to School recently awarded mini-grants to two Columbia Public Schools for the spring 2010 semester. Fairview Elementary and Smithton Middle School will both receive $1000 to promote safe, active transportation to school.
Janet Godon, a member of the PedNet Staff, wrote the grant for Fairview Elementary where her children attend school. “I often see students who live within 1 to 1½ miles being driven to school by their parents,” said Godon. “The grant was an opportunity to provide awareness and education to students and parents about the benefits of active transportation.”
Her project, titled “Walk This Way... Adding Fun and Education to Pedestrian Safety” will take place during Fairview’s annual mini-courses offered in the spring. The students will learn such walking skills as the rules of pedestrian safety, how to plan and navigate a route, and how to deal with difficult intersections or animals. The goal is that the students who take the course will begin walking much more regularly and then serve as walking ambassadors to help encourage classmates to enjoy active transportation as well.
Two CPS students, Pierce and Bo Scribner, were the driving force behind the Smithton Middle School grant. With the help of their mom, Lisa, they wrote the grant as part of their FIRST Lego Challenge. The challenge theme for this year is Smart Move — getting people and things safely and efficiently where they need to be. “The challenge is in two parts,” explains Lisa. “One is the construction of a LEGO robot, the other is a community project. The kids have to identify a problem, research it and recommend a solution.” They boys are using the mini-grant to take their project to the next level, however. “When we found out about the grant, they realized they could be part of the solution in addition to just recommending one,” said Lisa.
Although Bo attends Lee Elementary, the boys decided to do the project at Smithton, where Pierce is a student, to coordinate with an upcoming emphasis on bike safety at the school. Pierce and Bo will design ways to promote a bike safety class that will take place on February 26, encourage the use of bike trains, and generally promote the benefits of using non-motorized transportation to get to school.
The National Center for Safe Routes to School received nearly 250 applications from across the country and awarded only 25 grants, two of them in Columbia. Established in May 2006 the Center assists communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bike to school. They administer the $600 million in federal funding that has been given to states to distribute in small grants.
