Safe Routes to School

Safe Routes to School



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Minneapolis Public Schools Walking and Biking Field Trip Guide is completed! The guide grows out of the fantastic efforts of staff members who have traveled tens of thousands of miles with students on bike and on foot—from one corner of our dear city to another. Together we are working towards a happier, healthier, connected, and vibrant city where all children experience the joys and reap the benefits of active transportation. This project was supported by the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership, Minnesota Department of Health. HOW WILL YOU GET TO SCHOOL THIS YEAR? The Minneapolis Walking Routes for Youth map can help you plan your route! For younger students, a walking school bus is a fantastic, friend-filled way to get to school. Check out the safety tip sheets for walking (English), walking (Spanish), biking (English) and biking (Spanish). MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS SAFE ROUTES to SCHOOL STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN The new Minneapolis Public Schools Safe Routes to School Strategic Action Plan is completed! Providing fun, safe, and convenient opportunities for youth to walk and bike not only improves wellness, connectedness, and quality of life in our community, but is also one piece of achieving the academic goals of MPS. The plan brings a focus on equity throughout all SRTS actions and in coordination between MPS, City, and Hennepin County staff. Together with our many partners, we will work toward a vision where all students have opportunities to walk and bike, where communities are safe and connected, and where the beauty that Minneapolis offers is accessible to all. Active Commute Equals Active Mind MPS Safe Routes encourages students and families to actively commute to school. Research suggests students who walk to school have better attendance and higher achievement than those who do not. A recent study found that walking or biking to school improved children's concentration during the school day much more than eating breakfast or lunch did!. Other research links walking and creativity. As we all play a role in student success, in students achieving their dreams, MPS Safe Routes offers the commute to school as a small piece of this larger goal. Please contact MPS Safe Routes if you'd like assistance starting Safe Routes efforts in your community, educating staff and students on safe routes, organizing bike/walk events and walking buses, establishing school-owned bicycle fleets and/or addressing safety concerns. Recent publication \| Journal of School Health \| Critical Connections: Health and Academics \| Volume 85, Issue 11 \| November 2015 The November Issue of the Journal of School Health is devoted to the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model. One article in this issue focuses on Health and Academic Achievement. Some excerpts: “Despite these [reform] efforts, there has been minimal improvement in student achievement. One reason might be that these education-specific approaches are not addressing health-related barriers to learning… Researchers have been examining the association between physical activity and academic achievement for almost 50 years…[research] consistently showed that physical activity had a significant positive association with students' cognitive functioning (eg, concentration and memory)…. In addition, a recent review, based on a meta-analysis of 20 experimental studies, concluded that students participating in physical activity had improved academic achievement including better concentration and attention, higher achievement tests scores, and higher math scores compared with students who did not.” Read the article. 2018-2019 Walk/Day Participants Walk/Bike Day was October 10, 2018! More than thirty MPS schools representing thousands of walkers and bikers participated. Winter Walk Day was February 6, 2019! More than thirty school communities participated during the annual Winter Wellness Week. Bike/Walk Day was May 8 and forty schools representing ten thousand walkers and bikers participated during the annual MPS Wellness Week. Safe Routes to School Highlights from 2017-2018: Fifteen schools held once, monthly, or weekly Bus Stop & Walks this year: Anwatin, Bancroft, Cityview, Hale, Hiawatha, Howe, Kenwood, LNCS—Keewaydin, LNCS—Wenonah, Loring, Lucy Laney, Lyndale, Northrop, Seward, Sullivan. Each week, more than 5,000 “extra” students experienced the joys and reaped the benefits of walking to school. In a year-end survey of the Bus Stop & Walk, 90% of staff said the Bus Stop & Walk has been good for their school. The state of Minnesota has created a Bus Stop & Walk guide, based on our efforts in MPS. MPS staff, students, and parents also star in the Minnesota online crossing guard training. The stars of MPS shine brightly. More than 1,500 MPS students discovered freedom, beauty, and adventure on the streets and trails of Minneapolis using the MPS bicycle fleet and the Walk! Bike! Fun! curriculum. These students from Anishinabe, Bethune, Folwell, Heritage, Loring, Lucy Laney, Lyndale, Marcy, Nellie Stone Johnson, Seward, Sullivan, Transition Plus, Webster, and Whittier collectively pedaled their bicycles more than 8,000 miles—going farther than the year before and biking the equivalent of Miami to Seattle and THEN BACK AGAIN. In the summer many more students will be bicycling EVERY DAY in the Stem Academy summer programs at Andersen and NEMS and during physical education class at South High School. School bicycle fleets across MPS will also be in use this summer! The bicycle maintenance class at Transition Plus took excellent care of the MPS bicycle fleet over the winter. The school also created and implemented a first-of-its-kind bike share for students, providing convenient access and life-long skill development for T-Plus students. Three more MPS staff completed League Cycling Instructor training in May: Tammy Cowan (MACC – Minneapolis Academy & Career Center ), Lisa Herr, (Seward) and Jerilyn Rogers (Anwatin)! Way to go BIKE LEADERS! Thirty-seven schools took part in Bike & Walk to School Day events in celebration of MPS Wellness Week and National Bike to School Day. More than 10,000 walkers and bikers participated!!! Check out the list of participating schools. More than 36 schools and 9,000 students and staff participated in October walk and bike to school day events. 28 MPS schools celebrated Winter Walk Day during the second annual Winter Wellness Week. The third annual Let's Roll MPS was held on National Bike to School Day! more than 100 students, staff and community members joined in the five mile bike ride in celebration of MPS Wellness Week and National Bike to School Day! Thank you to awesome groups from Bethune, Lucy Laney, Nellie Stone Johnson, Pillsbury Pedal Power, and Whittier and all the riders and volunteers! We ended the ride with some MPS True Food deliciousness served from our Streets Eats food truck. Mark your calendar for May 8, 2019, and plan to join us in 2019! bsw_staff_survey_2015-2016_northrop_laney_seward_loring_bancroft_wenonah_keewaydin.pptx bus_stop_walk_sept_2017.pptx srts_plan_network_call.pptx our_streets_awards_january_26.pptx mps_national_srts_partnership_5-2-18_jbordon.pptx walkbikeday_registeredschools.pdf let_s_go_minneapolis_public_schools_walking_and_biking_field_trip_guide.pdf winter_walk_day_particpants_list_2019_for_web.pdf participant_list_for_web.pdf universal_bike_education_from_srts_action_plan.pdf srts_meet_up_5-21-2019_jkbordon.pptx		More Information Program Summary Arrival and Dismissal Biking Education Bus Stop & Walk Maps Pedestrian Education Safe Routes Network Travel Plans Walk and Bike to School Events Walking Bus Email news Winter Cycling Congress MPS Teacher Resources WBF Let's Roll MPS Bike Fleets in MPS: Pedal Power & More Contact Jenny Bordon Safe Routes to School 612.668.2827 jennifer.bordon@mpls.k12.mn.us Julie Danzl Whole Child Wellness 612.668.2857 julie.danzl@mpls.k12.mn.us Subscribe to Wellness E-news Streets, Eats, & Wellness Treats is a biweekly e-newsletter for MPS staff who care about wellness for staff and students alike. SUBSCRIBE The Whole Carrot is a monthly e-newsletter for parents, friends, partners, and community members containing MPS wellness news, events, opportunities and more . SUBSCRIBE Translations I WALKED LLEGUÉ CAMINANDO (Spanish) KUV TAUG KO TAW (Hmong) WAAN SOCDAY (Somali) INGII-PIMOSE (Ojibwe) Mani wahi. (Dakota & Lakota) I BIKED LLEGUÉ EN BICI (Spanish) KUV CAIJ LAUV THIJ (Hmong) BAASKIIL BAAN FUULAY (Somali) INGII-TITIBIWEBISHKIGE (Ojibwe) Naic’ihmihma ohna wahi. (Dakota) Kahomni nunpa ogna wahi. (Lakota) Note: The website formatting changes the Dakota and Lakota translations. See a better version in this word document.