Walk.Bike.Schools held a city-wide kickoff meeting earlier this month that drew a packed house of parents from schools all around the city interested in helping more Seattle school kids walk or bike to school. I was not able to attend, but the WBS blog summarized the meeting for those who missed it (and be sure to join the new Google Group if you want to get involved and stay up-to-date):

Frankly, we’re feeling pretty jazzed here at Walk.Bike.Schools! headquarters. When we started planning this “project,” we weren’t sure if we’d have 5, 10, or 20 of you who’d make the time to come a meeting. In fact, we had 35 or so parents, plus another 5 or so folks otherwise connected with the walk-and-bike-to-school movement in at least 14 schools.  All on a record-busy night for bike and ped meetings. Wow!

We experienced inspirational sharing of insights and ideas from participants. Some real winners included:

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• Make it fun for kids and they can motivate their parents!
• Let’s develop Buddy Schools to match up existing programs to mentor new programs
• Target preschools for early bike and walk involvement. That way kids and parents will already be converts when they hit elementary school
• and many more!

I’m putting out a call right now for blog posts on these ideas. There are some great opportunities to dig into these ideas on the blog and on the Walk Bike Schools Google Group over the next few months.

read more…

‘Think Outside the Car’ project Saturday at Westside School

Westside Elementary School in West Seattle will host a day of car-free fun Saturday. “Think Outside the Car” is funded by a neighborhood matching grant, and the kickoff party features a kids bike rodeo, a bike parade and chances to learn about walking and biking to school.

From the Department of Neighborhoods:

When you put Earth Day together with a neighborhood matching grant, you get a whole lot of fun! On Saturday, April 28 from 10 am-2 pm, Westside Elementary School will be the center of the car-free universe in an event designed to get West Seattleites using their bike pedals instead of their gas pedals.  The Cascade Bicycle Club will challenge kids to a bike rodeo in which children will get to show off their mad biking skills while learning bicycle safety tips. Children of all ages will have the chance to use the solar-powered Undriving license station where they can get their very own undriver’s license with a promise to try the bus or walk to school. Children will also decorate their bikes and have the opportunity to participate in two parades. Bike Works will be collecting bikes for donation and providing some ‘how tos’ on bike maintenance. Lumpia World and Athenas Food Trucks will be selling their delicious food and Bottlerocket will provide live musical entertainment and serenade our kid parades!

CoolMom will be on hand to showcase their Think Outside the Car project, arriving in West Seattle by bike, walking school bus and mass transit this Spring. Think Outside the Car, funded by a City of Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund grant, is designed to build community, improve air quality and save West Seattleites money.  Festival attendees can learn more about this project from the participating organizations, including CoolMom, Feet First, BikeWorks, the Cascade Bicycle Club, Sustainable West Seattle and Undriving.