WEYMOUTH — Academy Avenue Primary School students threw their backpacks over their shoulders and hopped on to the “Walking School Bus” on Wednesday to learn about pedestrian safety and encourage kids to get fresh air and exercise.
As part of the state’s Safe Routes to School program, kids gathered at three locations near the primary school — Legion Memorial Field, Broad Street and Essex Street — to walk together with a few parents to class.
About 40 kids and a few parents gathered at the entrance of Legion Memorial Field around 8:30 a.m., chanting and singing along with staff to encourage excitement about the walk to school and spending time outdoors.
The state program works with schools to develop safer practices for pedestrians by conducting an audit for the schools and encouraging students to walk together, socialize and exercise.
About 85 percent of Academy Avenue Primary School students walk to school or are driven, said Principal Patrick Higgins, which encouraged them to make improvements to the campus and find opportunities for kids to travel on roads that experience less traffic.
“So this program really does look at maybe demystifying some myths around walking to school,” Higgins said. “A lot of times parents may have an attitude around, you know, well, walking to school is unsafe or it’s too far. And you get those kinds of myths around kids’ ability to actually walk to school safely and making it a daily routine.”
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Weymouth parent Lisa Daley was participating in the “Walking School Bus” program on Wednesday with her son Luke, a fourth grader at Academy who usually carpools to school.
“I think that exercise is so important,” Daley said. “I think that this past year everybody kind of got into this staying at home and not getting out and moving too much. So now that everything’s back in order, to see them out and getting back into the vibe of being outside and exercising is so important, I think.”
Daley said, after participating in the walking program, she thinks it’s a great idea to keep it going and that her son would definitely be interested in walking to school with friends going forward.
Due to the pandemic, Higgins said there are restrictions on the number of students able to fit on buses, as well as parents who expressed in a survey that they were not comfortable putting their children on buses. With this increase in drivers on the school’s campus, Higgins said they are trying to encourage walking.
School committee member Rebecca Shangraw was in attendance during the walk to school on Wednesday, and said she hopes more kids will walk to school in the future for the social, health and wellness benefits.
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