SR2S Encouragement and Education

The SR2S Education and Encouragement program offers events, contests and promotional materials to encourage children (and parents) to walk and bicycle. In addition, the program provides classroom lessons to teach children the necessary skills to navigate through busy streets and to persuade them to be active participants in the program.

SR2S Curriculum

Curriculum Guides and Lesson Plans are provided for elementary, middle and high school lessons. Useful forms are also provided. All are available as downloadable pdfs.

SR2S School Teams and Task Forces

School Teams are formed at participating schools and consist of parents, students, teachers and neighbors who wish to promote Safe Routes to Schools.  Task Forces can consist of one or two school districts within one geographic area, including all public, private and high schools within those boundaries.

Program Evaluations

Evaluations of the SR2S Programs are essential to improve the Program and tailor it to Marin's needs.  The evaluations below analyze the effectiveness of the Program and make recommendations for improvements during future years.

Contests and Events

Contests and events give children the opportunity to try something new. Events, such as Walk and Bike to School Days, allow the whole community to come together to celebrate a healthier lifestyle, safer community, and cleaner environment. Contests such as Frequent Rider Miles challenges students to walk and bike more with the enticement of prizes and other recognition.

The guidebooks associated with each event below are designed to assist you in running specific contests and events for Safe Routes to Schools. They include instructions, sample promotional ideas, letters and check lists. Please do not duplicate these guidebooks without permission.

Ride n' Seek
Check out the pictures and highlights (coming soon!) of Ride n' Seek, a Rolling Treasure Hunt.

Frequent Rider Miles (FRM) is an annual contest held every spring. The contest asks students to keep track of each time they walk, bike, carpool, or ride the bus to and from school. Every time a student accumulates 20 points, they receive both an instant reward from a ?grab bag? and a raffle ticket, and get their name entered into a raffle to win valuable prizes. At the end of the contest a drawing is held to select the prize winners. The contest is set up to run for six weeks starting at the beginning of April. However, each school can organize the contest for any length of time that they feel is appropriate.

The Golden Sneaker Award contest is a competition between homeroom classes that rewards the class with the greatest number of students who walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school in a given month. The class keeps track of how often its students commute by these modes at the end of each week, and calculates the totals per commute mode at the end of the month. The class with the most participation overall (regardless of the mode breakdown) wins the Golden Sneaker Award and gets to display their award throughout the month.

The Pollution Punch Card rewards students when they walk or bike to school. The card features the pollution gremlin that blocks out the view of Mount Tam. When he is ?punched out? the air is clear. The card is designed to be hooked onto a student?s backpack. The students get their cards punched on random, unannounced days. In addition, volunteers will also punch cards on weekly Walk and Roll to School Days. Every time a student gets all six gremlins punched, they receive a reward and they get their name entered into a raffle to win valuable prizes. At the end of the contest a drawing is held to select the prizewinners.

SchoolPool is a program for parents who want to share in the duties of getting children to and from school. They can do this in one of three ways:

WalkPool or a Walking School Bus
This is when one of more adults accompany children to and/or from school on a regular basis, with regularity ranging from daily to weekly. Middle and High school students may want to form their own WalkPool without parent supervision.

BikePool or a Bike Train
A BikePool or a Bike Train has one of more ?driver? adults who accompany children to and/or from school on bicycles. As with Walkpools, Middle and High School students may want to form their own BikePool with minimal or no parent supervision, depending on the age of the students, and their level of skill and responsibility.

CarPool
This is when two or more families agree to share driving duties to and/or from school.

Walk and Roll to School Days are a weekly or monthly event that encourages students to walk and bike to school through rewards and outreach. This event is the main activity that instills the Safe Routes to Schools program as part of the culture of your school. During a Walk and Roll to School Day, volunteers host a greeting table with food and/or rewards for students that walk and bike to school. Special Walking School Buses or Bike Trains can also be organized as a way to encourage groups of students to travel together. The set-up and regularity of the event?s occurrence varies according to the school and the availability of volunteers.

Walk and Bike Across America is a web-based interactive game that promotes physical activity. Participating classes receive a wall map and access to the web-based map. Students track the miles they walk and bike to school and then combine those miles with their classmates to accumulate enough miles to travel around the map. The website includes Excel spread sheets to assist in tracking individual and class miles.