Building off the success of our Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program’s Challenge last spring for students in area PSD schools to see how many days they could walk or ride their bike to school, BFC initiated the Challenge again this fall. The same three schools took us up on the Challenge as in the spring: Shepardson, Riffenburgh and Dunn Elementary Schools. Each launched a challenge to their students to see how many days they could walk or ride their bikes to school during the month of October.

Those who walked or rode to school at least 4 days earned a Bronze certificate and sticker to proudly display on a water bottle, notebook, helmet, bike or wherever they best see fit. Those who did so 5-8 days earned a Silver certificate and sticker. And those who walked or rode 9 or more of the 18 eligible schools days in October earned the top recognition of a Gold certificate and sticker.

Also, with this fall’s Challenge, thanks to the partnership and generosity of Scheels one lucky certifiate earner at each school will also win a special Scheels Day Experience, featuring: $100 Gift Card, a Scheels Goodie Bag, Free Ferris Wheel Ride (for up to 4 people), and Free Ice Cream Cone (for up to 4 people).

The results are in–and are once again impressive. In all, 453 students particpated across the three schools with over 400 earning certificates and nearly 90% of them earning “Gold” as follows:

SHEPARDSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

• GOLD CERTIFICATES: 196
• SILVER CERTIFICATES: 12
• BRONZE CERTIFICATES: 27

DUNN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

• GOLD CERTIFICATES: 101
• SILVER CERTIFICATES: 8
• BRONZE CERTIFICATES: 4

RIFFENBURGH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

• GOLD CERTIFICATES: 50
• SILVER CERTIFICATES: 3
• BRONZE CERTIFICATES: 0

These participating numbers represent 36% of all students across these three schools, which is approaching the Safe Routes to School program goal/vision of having 50% or more students walking or riding their bike to school. We hope to see this percentage continue to grow with subsequent challenges. 

Congratulations to each school and all the students who particpated.

A special thanks to each school’s P.E. teacher for coordinating the challenge within their school, and for all other school staff and teachers for supporting the Challenge and encouraging the students. 

Don’t see your student’s school listed above? Feel free to share a link to this blog post with your PE teacher or principal, indicating you want your school to participate. We’d love to see more elementary schools and even middle schools participate in these Challenges.