Last Friday we had the fantastic opportunity to celebrate the season of Safe Routes in Eugene. They have a lot to celebrate! Eugene had 25 of their 38 elementary and middle schools- plus one high school- register for Walk and Bike to School Day, and most schools had at least 50% of the school body participate.

It was a great evening of networking, sharing ideas, eating great Bene pizza, and general brainstorming for a Spring event, on-going work, and of course next years big day.

Shane Rhodes passed out a condensed list of success stories from the schools. Of particular note, Roosevelt had 400 (of their 650) students walking and biking to school. Students peddled the bike blender to make fruit smoothies and the Grey Matter Jugglers put on a super safety performance.

McCornack had 170 students walking and biking to school on the day. Though the entire month had tons of kids walking and biking to school, and there is a demand for a walking club and biking club for the entire year. At Edison Elementary, it was estimated that 55% of the student body walked and biked on the day. Principal Maloney talks about walking and biking to school throughout the year- “it’s incorporated into the fabric of the school.”

At Cesar Chavez and Family School, parents and staff held a pep rally the day before walk and bike to school day which certainly helped increase their numbers of walkers and bikers. Volunteers say that the day was a great community-building event!

These are just a few stories from Eugene. If you’d like more information about the Eugene and Springfield program contact Shane Rhodes at rhodes_sh@4j.lane.edu; and the one of the multitude of Eugene partners: Lane Transit District.

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