Walkin’ and Talkin’…about Walk To School Day!

Passersby looked a tad confused on October 8, as more than 1,500 OCPS students walked jubilantly towards their schools holding signs and waving to friends all to celebrate International Walk to School Day.  Walking? Remarkably refreshing! 
 
Encouragers of safe walking and active transportation joined in — Winter Park Mayor Ken Bradley, Maitland Mayor Schieferdecker, State Representative Bryan Nelson, State Representative Karen Castor-Dentel, OCPS School Board Members Joie Cadle and Nancy Robbinson, and of course mom, dad, teachers, friends, and the local TV crews. 
 
This year, BFF volunteers, with their iYield4Peds signs, covered 50+ schools, reaching several thousand motorists and walkers with message to look out and yield to peds, especially our little peds.  Not only that, this message blew up on social media where more organizations like the Florida Department of Education, Smart Growth America, Safe Kids Denver and Streetsblog Network shared the #iYield4peds message.  Even our very own Scott Maxwell joined the tweeting sensation.
 
Mayor Ken Bradley of Winter Park seems to sum up the day nicely: “These are our most precious resources in our community, and we need to make sure they are safe as they are getting to school.”