Upper Grand rocks Walk to School Day
November 6, 2017
GUELPH, Ontario – The numbers are in and they show that students and staff in the Upper Grand District School Board rocked Walk to School Day!
An impressive 46 schools participated in International Walk to School Day (IWALK) in October, and 16 of those schools achieved student participation rates of more than 80 per cent.
This year’s Walk to School Day was a whole-board campaign, with all schools being encouraged to participate. Schools with bused students were encouraged to hold “Walk at School” events, where students could walk on the school grounds or in the community at recess or lunch breaks.
Environmental Leads in each school played a big role as well, helping to promote the benefits of walking, biking and rolling to and from school – including increased physical fitness, improved mental health and well-being, and decreased pollution.
In total, more than 10,000 UGDSB students took part in IWALK 2017 and collectively walked 6,770 km, almost the entire way across Canada from St. Johns, NL to Hope, BC!
“We are thrilled with the results of our walking campaign – our target for next year is to make it all the way to the West Coast,” said Karen Acton, UGDSB’s Environmental Sustainability Lead.
Also as part of Walk to School and Walk at School Day, all schools were encouraged to register online with Green Communities to be eligible for a special prize.
Out of all schools in Wellington and Dufferin Counties and the City of Guelph, Island Lake Public School was the winner of the grand prize. The school was recognized by Green Communities Canada and the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Active & Safe Routes to School Committee for their amazing enthusiasm and school-wide participation. Students at the school will now be treated to an active, whole-school, dance class day.
Congratulations to all the schools who helped make this year’s Walk to School Day a huge success.
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