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Konocti Unified hosts ‘epic’ walking school bus event
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — More than 400 people of all ages showed up to participate in a walking school bus event on May 31 hosted by Konocti Unified School District in partnership with the city of Clearlake and Blue Zones Project — Lake County.
Students and their families, KUSD teachers and staff, community members and elected leaders walked from Austin Park to Pomo Elementary School to highlight the need for walkable neighborhoods and to encourage federal funding for the effort.
“Sometimes we get so used to our surroundings, we forget we can change them,” KUSD Superintendent Becky Salato said. “We know health is important, and many of us grew up walking to school, but when parents look around and see how dangerous it would be for their kids to walk, they put them on a bus or drive them to school–even when they only live a few blocks away.”
To make the walking school bus event safe, the city of Clearlake closed one lane of Lakeshore Drive and provided traffic control, so no one had to dodge cars while they walked. Blue Zones Project — Lake County provided water and T-shirts.
Many community members provided moral support by walking alongside the kids, including Clearlake City Manager Alan Flora, Lake County Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, Clearlake City Council Member Dirk Slooten, Clearlake Chief of Police Tim Hobbs, Lake County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Marc Hill, Adventist Health Director of Wellbeing Don Smith and Blue Zones Project — Lake County Director Jamey Gill.
Parents joined in to support their children, often pushing younger siblings in strollers. The festive mood created by kids talking and laughing together brought people outside to see what all the commotion was about.
Gill said, “Neighbors came out of their homes to see the parade. One woman shouted, ‘This day will go down in history.’ Another man brought his little kids outside to watch and wave.”
Blue Zones Project — Lake County Public Policy Advocate Greg Damron explained that by creating a “built environment” that encourages walking, especially safe routes to school, it is easier for people to develop healthy habits. With the current lack of sidewalks and proximity to busy traffic, most parents are not comfortable sending their children to school on foot.
Before the walking school bus crowd left Austin Park, Superintendent Salato asked students to raise their hands if they had ever walked to school. Fewer than 20 kids raised their hands.
She challenged them to use all their senses as they walked, to pay attention to what they saw, heard, smelled, and felt. When they arrived, she asked if their minds and bodies felt ready to learn.
“Do you feel more energized?!” she asked. “Yes!” they responded. She then asked who wanted to walk to school from now on, and all hands went up. This is when first graders started chanting, “We want sidewalks. We want sidewalks!”
Salato knows that creating a safe, walkable community cannot happen overnight, but that “it can and should happen.” She says she will continue to collaborate with local officials and Blue Zones Project partners to advocate for state and federal funding for sidewalks and other local health initiatives.
Blue Zones Projects across the nation support the Safe Routes to School movement that works to make it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school. Research confirms that students benefit from improved health and learning when they get physical exercise on the way to school. In Clearlake, however, those benefits must be measured against the risks of navigating unsafe routes.
The walking school bus event is only one example of the partnership between Konocti Unified and Blue Zones — Lake County.
KUSD is working toward becoming the first school district to be a Blue Zones Project Certified workplace and each school is working toward becoming a Blue Zones Approved school.
Damron shared his enthusiasm about the partnership, saying, “I have worked in community development for close to 30 years, and spent the last five years supporting public health in schools. In all that time, Becky Salato is the most progressive and innovative superintendent I have ever worked with. She is focused on moving the needle at all levels, from statewide advocacy to engaging students in the classroom. As a member of the Blue Zones Project team, I can tell you we are pretty well-funded and well-connected, and at times, we find ourselves trying to keep up with Becky.”
Next year, KUSD will continue to embrace the core tenants of the Blue Zones Project, including providing more opportunities for students and staff to exercise and increasing access to healthy food (some of which will be grown at school gardens).
Salato is also dedicated to tackling one of Lake County’s most intransigent problems: dependence on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
Lake County has among the highest adult smoking rates in California, and vaping (using electronic devices to inhale nicotine and other substances) has reached epidemic proportions among students, with some starting as early as first grade.
Salato says she is encouraged by the turnout at the walking school bus event and that she will continue to work with community members to support children’s physical and emotional well-being, even when faced with the occasional naysayer.
One parent admitted that he was not sure how the walking school bus event would go.
“So close to the end of school when kids are tired and antsy, I wasn’t sure if there would be eye-rolling or if kids would get into it. Turns out, it was spectacular. Hundreds of kids were eager to participate and super energetic. I was stunned. What a tribute to the school district and city of Clearlake. This was epic,” he said.