Walk on Wednesdays (WoW)

On Wednesday mornings, around 830am or so, the neighborhood streets around the Downey and Hanlon Elementary Schools are filled with children and parents walking to school. Both schools are working with MassRIDES Safe Routes to School Program:

The Massachusetts Safe Routes to School program offers schools technical assistance designing, implementing, marketing, and evaluating initiatives tailored to each school's needs and priorities. Participating schools receive free promotional materials to implement Safe Routes to School, plus no-cost educational materials targeted to students, parents, and community leaders. Training prepares school stakeholders to identify school access challenges and design solutions. School partners qualify for infrastructure improvements to enhance safety along school routes. 

Safe Routes to Schools is part of a growing movement to increase the physical activity of our children, help them achieve greater independence, and help them to arrive at school alert and ready to learn. The comprehensive Tool Kit Manual developed by MassRIDES and WalkBoston describes the program in detail and presents a cookbook for establishing such a program at a school.