This is the February 2010 issue of the Safe Routes to Schools’ e-newsletter for Marin County, California. This newsletter provides readers with program highlights and updates for the month.
Green Ways Kickoff January 21
Sign up for SchoolPool!
Greenways to School Challenge – Win Cash for Your School
Banners and Contest Materials Now Available
Kent Teens Go Green
Riding with Youth Classes
Mark Your Calendars
Team Leader Luncheon
Tuesday, February 23, 11:30 – 1
San Rafael Community Center,
612 B Street, San Rafael
Green Ways Kickoff group photo
The Green Ways to School campaign was unveiled at the Marin County Connections Center on January 21, 2010. Parent leaders, principals and community leaders gathered to view the campaign and its programs. With popular Drake High Rock Teacher Jasper Thelin acting as the Master of Ceremonies, the event showcased the new SchoolPoolMarin.org web program and new contests.
Marin County Office of Education Superintendent Mary Jane Burke opened the event and Transportation Authority of Marin’s Executive Director, Diane Steinhauser, presented the Green Feet award to Edna Maguire School principal Lisa Zimmer for increasing Green trips by 18% in 2008-9 school year. Eileen Smith, principal for Loma Verde School, was given the Roll Model Drake Students Paris Dowd and Ela Engert created a home-made video featuring a re-write of the Beatles Song “Come Together” using green themes. You can view the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H9btF0K4sk
A raffle of green prizes including an olive tree and signed copy of Al Gore’s new book took place throughout the presentations. Refreshments were provided by Wendy Lee catering. Children had a separate room to make bike part mobiles and other activities, led by Safe Routes to Schools staff. Thanks to Fairfax Lumber for pine trees for volunteers and Sunnyside Nursery for the Olive Tree for the raffle and to Mike’s Bike and Mill Valley Services for gift certificates for our principals.
The SchoolPoolMarin web site went live on January 25, 2010. This online referral service connects families to travel to and from school together. Registering is easy and free. Once a parent or guardian registers online, the TripShare system provides a match list of other interested families who travel the same route to their school. The parents then contact each other to discuss carpooling, walking, biking or introducing their kids to be bus buddies. Parents who are not looking for a match can still register on the site to support their school in the Green Ways to School Challenge.
The first 500 parents who sign up for SchoolPool receive a $5 Jamba Juice card (as of February 5, 300 parents already signed up).
Greenways to School Challenge –
Win Cash for Your School
Marin County Safe Routes to Schools is pleased to announce its new Green Ways to School campaign to combat global warming, funded by a $175,000 grant from the Marin Community Foundation’s Climate Change Initiative. The Green Ways to School campaign will feature the new SchoolPool on-line trip sharing program, new contests, and cash incentives for the schools that show the greatest increase in green trips to school by walking, biking, carpooling or taking the bus.
Building on the success of Marin’s nationally recognized Safe Routes to School program, the Green Ways campaign will provide awards of $500-$2,000 for the schools that increase the most green trips by the end of the school year. Schools will be measured through in-class student tally surveys, information gleaned from the www.SchoolPoolMarin.org web site and participation in Green Ways classroom and team competitions in spring.
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Banners and Contest Materials Now Available
The Go for the Green contest will be offered to elementary schools from mid March until spring break. Each class will get a poster of a tree and leaf stickers. Students will be asked to put a leaf on the tree for every green trip to school. At the end of each week the leaves will be counted and the number put on two acorns, one that will be put on the tree and the other displayed in a central location in the school. At the end of the contest the class with the most stickers will win a $100 cash award and be given a certificate.
Middle schools will have a classroom competition in which students will be given raffle tickets for taking greenways to school twice a week, one on a regular Walk and Roll to School Day and the other a random day. Each week a ticket will be drawn for a small prize for an individual student and at the end of the contest a student will win a green iPod. The winning class with the most tickets will get $50 for a party for their class.
High school students will be invited to form teams. Each team member will get a raffle ticket (twice a week like middle school) and put it in their team’s jar. Each week the teams with the most tickets will go into a rafflle for a coupon for movie tickets and other funs things for the team to do together. The final prize will be a $100 money order for the winning team with the most tickets.
Kent Teens Go Green
Kent Middle School’s Eco-Action Club braved the freezing winter weather to actively promote green transportation. Students, playing the part of environmentally-friendly activists, arrived early to school and marched with signs in front of the vehicle drop-off circle to raise awareness of our collective effort to reduce CO2. The message was well received as several drivers honked, waved and gave the “thumbs-up” signal of support. Students who walked, biked, and carpooled to school were rewarded for their actions with hot-chocolate and Cliff Bars. With a touch of creativity and playfulness, kids can be motivated to step outside of their comfort zone, regardless of the weather
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Riding with Youth Workshops
Sign up for the Riding with Youth workshop to be held on Saturday, April 24th, 2010, between 9:30-12:00- at the Terra Linda Community Center in San Rafael. This workshop will take adults and their children riding together to teach them how to safely navigate streets. The workshop is free.
Children must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Both adults and children must have their own bikes. This class is designed for children in grades 2nd to 8th with prior on-the-street riding experience.
This class is not designed for:
Children riding with training wheels
Children riding on a trailer bike attached to an adult bike
Children riding on sidewalks
SAFE ROUTES
TO SCHOOLS
is a program of the
Transportation Authority
of Marin
3501 Civic Center Dr.
San Rafael, CA 94913
www.tam.ca.gov
Project Manager:
David Parisi
415-388-8978
david@
parisi-associates.com
Program Director:
Wendi Kallins
415-488-4101
wendi@marinbike.org
For information on
school activities:
Project Coordinator:
Laura Kelly
415-456-3469 ext. 2#
laura@marinbike.org
For information on
school classes:
Project Coordinator
for Logistics:
Peggy Clark
415-456-3469 ext 8#
peggy@marinbike.org
For information on the SchoolPool Marin Program
SchoolPool Coordinator
Deborah Cole
415-381-4177
deborah@parisi-
associates.com
Street Smarts Marin
Program
Transportation Authority
of Marin
Project Manager
Dan Cherrier,
415 226-0829
dcherrier@tam.ca.gov
Street Smarts Coordinator
Parisi Associates
Deborah Cole
415-381-4177
deborah@parisi-
associates.com
