Marin County Safe Routes to Schools
Team Leader Newsletter
September 2004

Team Leader Roster attached

TEAM LEADER UPDATES

1. Gear Up for Walk to School Day October 6th
2. Walk and Bike Across America Lesson Plan Available
3. School Pool: Frequently Asked Questions
4. Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Safe Routes Reauthorization Bill
5. Sign up for the National Training October 14th and 15th
6. Help with Measure A, the Transportation Sales Tax
7. Featured School: Tam Valley
8. Welcome to New Team Leaders and Schools

TEAM LEADER UPDATES

1. Gear Up for Walk to School Day, October 6th

Are you ready for Walk to School Day? By now you should have already received your Walk to School Day package from the California Department of Health Services. If you have not received your package please let us know. You should also have started promoting and planning for Walk to School Day with:

• Posters up at the school
• Write up in your school newsletter (keep it up every week)
• Volunteers to person the greeting table
• Found donations for treats
• Invited your school board, elected representatives, and other local celebrities to participate
• Found adults to lead walking school buses and bike trains from key locations

In the week leading up to Walk to School Day

• Ask your principal to make announcements
• Ask the teachers to announce event in the classroom
• Continue to promote in your school newsletter
• Call Safe Routes staff to request student-made banners and signs- REQUEST NEEDED BY MONDAY SEPTEMBER 27TH
• Let us know if you need additional volunteers.
• Remind everyone you see with great enthusiasm

On Walk to School Day, October 6th

• Take Pictures- especially digital ones so we can post them on our website
• Count how many kids and parents participate (you can use your zipper pulls, magnets or other giveaways to keep track - count them beforehand and see how many you have left. You can also do classroom surveys that day)
• Make sure you have your volunteer sign-up sheet at your table
• Promote your next Walk and Roll to School Day
• Celebrate, enjoy yourselves, congratulate yourselves on a job well done

Please let us know if there is anything that you need from us. You may download and print Walk to School Day stickers directly at http://www.cawalktoschool.com/stickers.php. We still have a limited number of zipper pulls, balloons left, and plenty of SchoolPool magnets that you can use as rewards. For more information call Melanie Grubman at 456-3469 ext. 5# or Melanie@marinbike.org.

2. Walk and Bike Across America Lesson Plan Available

The Walk and Bike Across America Web site is almost complete. We now have a lesson plan available to distribute to teachers. Walk and Bike Across America is a web-based game that encourages physical activity while teaching children about the cultural heritage of the United States. Children keep track of the number of miles they walk and bike and add the miles of the class or the whole school together to virtually travel around the U.S. visiting 85 national parks, historic monuments, and key agricultural sites. If you would like to use this exciting new encouragement tool contact Wendi Kallins at 488-4101 or wendi@marinbike.org. We are also looking for teachers to run this contest out of their classrooms. If you know about teachers in your school with a special interest in promoting alternative transportation, please pass their contact information to Melanie@marinbike.org

3. School Pool - Frequently Asked Questions

There have been several questions about the logistics of SchoolPool. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions:

Q: What do people receive when they sign up for SchoolPool? Are addresses protected?
A. The form sent back to people who have signed up only contains an email message that notifies parents that they have a match. They have to recheck the RIDES website with their password for the matches. The information available for parents is a phone number, an email, the choices made by the parent about their interest (bike, afternoon carpool, etc.) and a map(not containing specific addresses).

Q: How far away do matches live from each other?
A. These matches are taken from a radius of 1.5 miles.

Q: Can Team Leaders have access to information on registrants?
A: An administrator needs to be verified by the school. They are able to access all the infomation of applicants including their passwords via the website. In my opinion, administrators should be trained by Jackie from Rides.

Q: Do parents get updates when new people sign up?
A: Parents are regularly emailed with notifications of new interests. If they have only supplied addresses,they must check the Rides website themselves.

4. Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Safe Routes to Schools Reauthorization Bill

Great news from Sacramento! On September 9th , Governor Arnold Schwarzengger signed Senate Bill 1087 (Soto) into state law. As a result, California's award-winning Safe Routes to School program will continue for another three years with an annual allocation of $20-25 million dollars. Since its inception in 1999, the enormously popular Safe Routes to School program has funded $90 million worth of traffic safety projects near schools in almost all of California's 58 counties. The Safe Routes to School program has been instrumental in both making communities safer for families and encouraging healthy transportation choices for children, who are highly vulnerable to injuries and deaths caused by motor vehicles and increasingly at-risk for diseases related to physical inactivity. "With the signing of SB1087, this California success story will continue to serve as a national model and increase momentum for the creation of an American Safe Routes to School program now under consideration by Congress for inclusion in the federal bill that will replace TEA-21," states Chris Morfas of the California Alliance for Transportation Choices.

To learn more about the Safe Routes to School program, see http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LocalPrograms/saferoute2.htm.

5. Sign up for the National Training October 14th and 15th

Marin County Safe Routes to Schools is offering a national training for Safe Routes to Schools leaders across the country on October 14th and 15th at the Mill Valley Community Center. This training will cover encouragement, education and engineering aspects of the Safe Routes to Schools program showcasing the award winning Safe Routes to Schools program as a model. Day one will cover encouragement techniques such as recruiting team leaders and other volunteers, organizing regular Walk and Roll to School days and other contests and events. IN the afternoon our education staff will demonstrate classroom lessons and talk about getting students involved in the program. On day two, David Parisi will provide information on engineering tools to create safer streets, including a demonstration Walkabout. Price for this workshop is $350 but there are 10 free slots available for Marin County Team Leaders. Sign up today to reserve your space by contacting wendi@marinbike.org or calling 488-4101.

6. Help with Measure A, the Transportation Sales Tax

Measure A, the Transportation Sales Tax will provide $36 million over 20 years to continue the Safe Routes to Schools program, provide crossing guards, and provide funding for infrastructure improvements near schools. In addition, the measure will fund local transit, improve local and county roads including bike and pedestrian paths, and ensure that Highway 101 carpool lanes will be completed. The campaign is gearing up and is looking for funding and volunteers. To get involved contact Suzanne Dunwell at sdunwell@earthlink.net.

7. Featured School: Tam Valley

Tam Valley School Team Leaders Cynthia Witwicki and Perry King have devised a new scheme to promote Safe Routes to Schools at this K-5 school in southern Mill Valley. They have recruited volunteers from each classroom to be spokespeople for the program. Each volunteer is instructed to give a 5-10 minute talk, three times a year. They are given a script and talking points plus a calendar of events for the entire year. Here is the sample script for the fall presentation:

Hello Children and Teacher-

Fall

I'm here to talk to you about how you get to school. All the schools in Mill Valley want more children to walk and bike to school. The Safe Routes to School program is at each school in Mill Valley. We have contests, pedestrian and bike safety training, and fun events to help more children walk and bike to school. I have daughters/sons in ______grade at Tam Valley School (mention other children at other schools, eg. middle/Tam High). We walk/ride our bikes, take our scooters, (specify) ________ days a week. (Talk a little about have you always done this, or just since last year, or on "Walk or Wheel Wednesdays", etc.).

Hands up who walked (carpooled, rode their bikes/scooters) to school today? All the way from your house or from around the corner of the school? How did you get to school last year?

Well this Fall we are encouraging you to bike walk and carpool again. Ask them "Why is it a good idea to bike or walk to school?"

• Stops pollution from too many cars
• It's safer in our parking lot, crosswalks and streets if there's fewer cars
• Gives you energy and exercise
• Is a chance to have fun walking and biking with your parents or friends
• You get to know the neighborhood
• Feel independent

Any questions?
Thanks for your help!!
Any helpers can sign up on this sheet.

If you want to find out more about the Tam Valley marketing program contact Perry King at 381-5646 or fitperry@comcast.net.

8. Welcome to New Team Leaders and Schools

With great joy, Safe Routes to Schools welcomes the following new team leaders to our 2004-2005 school year!

Frances Barbour-Hayden - Sun Valley School NEW SCHOOL!
Margot Geitham- Bel Aire School
Laurie Hailer - Manor School
Kim Hanley - St. Patricks
Kjeld Harris - Dixie School
Marcella Hauser - Laurel Dell School NEW SCHOOL!
Julie Jelida and Tina Schalch - Hamilton School NEW SCHOOL!
Janine Marr- Neil Cummins School
Jan Matthews- St. Marks
Stephanie Miller - Lynwood School NEW SCHOOL!
Michelle Rodriguez- Bacich School
Mike Schulist- Miller Creek
Paul Shermantine- Our Lady of Loretto
Mary Skade and Marty Sawyers- Mt. Tamalpais School
Joe Stewart- Redwood High School NEW SCHOOL!
Marjorie Sun - Upper Brookside School

For more information please contact Wendi Kallins, Safe Routes to Schools Program Director at (415) 488-4101 or wendi@marinbike.org

Safe Routes to Schools is a program funded by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and administered by the County of Marin on behalf of the Marin County Congestion Management Agency and the County, Cities and Towns of Marin.