Notes From the Safe Routes to Schools Team

Sept 21 2023: Safe Routes: Safe Routes: Getting Ready for International Walk & Roll Day
TransForm staffers gathered on a recent Friday afternoon to stuff goodie bags to be handed out on International Walk & Roll to School Day. The event, held on October 4 this year, invites K-12 students across Alameda County to discover the joy and freedom of getting to school by biking, walking, rolling, taking transit, and other alternatives to driving.

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Sept 7 2023: Safe Routes: SR2S Transit Month Challenge

Every month, the Safe Routes to Schools (SR2S) team has a different theme to encourage school communities to use active and shared transportation. In September, we’re joining in the fun of Transit Month! Take a look at our challenge here. Participants are encouraged to take photos of their rides, post them on social media, and tag the SR2S Program on Facebook (@saferoutestoschool) or Twitter/X (@AlamedaCoSR2S). 

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August 9 2023: Become a Safe Routes to Schools Champion

Safe Routes Champions play a vital part in encouraging families to walk and roll at 290+ schools in Alameda County. We’re looking for more volunteers to get involved for the upcoming school year! Champions work with TransForm’s site coordinators and school communities to support events like International Walk and Roll to School Day and the Golden Sneaker Contest, coordinate walking school buses and bike trains, and organize BikeMobile visits. Is this you or someone you know? Contact staff@alamedacountysr2s.org for more information on becoming a Safe Routes Champion.

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July 27 2023: TransForm's Collaborative Approach is Reshaping School Commutes

Getting students and families excited about walking and rolling to school is a challenge but TransForm’s Safe Routes to Schools team is more than up to the task! The secrets to our success? Creative thinking, collaboration, and strong connections to school communities. A recent team retreat gave our volunteers and staff the chance to relax in the sunshine, regroup, celebrate last year’s wins, and talk about plans for the school year ahead. 

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June 15 2023: Bike Trains? Bike Trains!

Encouraging kids to walk and roll to school with Bike Buses and Kidical Mass is making national news. Did you know that TransForm’s Safe Routes to Schools team organizes walking school buses and bike trains at more than 20 Alameda County schools?

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June 1 2023: Youth Task Force Leads the Way

More high schoolers than ever before are walking and rolling to school, thanks to volunteers on the Safe Routes to Schools Youth Task Force. Planning and hosting dozens of events on 19 campuses throughout Alameda County, students got the word out about active and shared transportation, learned valuable lessons about community outreach, and had fun.

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May 19 2023: Thank You, Safe Routes to Schools Champions!

TransForm’s team of Safe Routes to Schools Site Coordinators would like to thank our 300 volunteer "Champions" throughout Alameda County for a wonderful school year. Your hard work and dedication encouraging students to walk, roll, and ride transit makes a difference in the health of our youth and the earth.

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May 5 2023: Teaching Safe Mobility, Training Advocates

We’re out here creating the next generation of transportation advocates! TransForm’s Safe Routes to Schools team leads Travel Trainings at East Bay middle and high schools, educating students how to safely and confidently use active and shared modes of travel. We teach kids about connecting biking and walking trips to bus and train rides—teaching practical skills like how to use student transit passes and youth Clipper Cards or load a bike onto an AC Transit bus. We educate youth on the financial and environmental benefits of shared and active transportation, and how these modes help their communities thrive.

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April 21 2023: Appreciating Nature on the Way to School

After a very long and very soggy winter, everything is blooming, and TransForm’s Safe Routes to School site coordinators are focused on appreciating nature! This month, students and families are encouraged to start a nature journal about what they find as they walk and roll to school, and to draw posters about ways to care for the earth. Make a plan to get outside with the East Bay Regional Parks to learn more about the flora and fauna all around us. 

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April 7 2023: Students and Families Roll Into Spring

May is National Bike Month and we're getting more students biking and rolling to school than ever before! TransForm Site Coordinators are rallying more than 100 local schools to celebrate the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools Bike to School Day event on Thursday May 11.

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March 27 2023: The Artistic Side of Climate Advocacy

Our Safe Routes to Schools team loves walking, biking, and transit, and they share that attitude—that biking, walking, and transit are not only sustainable but also fun—with kids and youth at nearly 300 schools. Recently TransForm’s Safe Routes to Schools site coordinators hosted story time, Go Green workshops, and made awesome posters with students at the Hayward Youth Enrichment Program ahead of Walk & Roll to School Day. 

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March 10 2023: Creating Transit Advocates One Story at a Time

To get students excited about walking and rolling to school, TransForm’s Safe Routes to Schools Site Coordinators have been connecting high school volunteers with local elementary school classrooms. 

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During Safe Routes to Schools Storytime, high school students read stories to TK-2nd grade classes across Alameda County to encourage them to walk, bike, and take transit with their families. Favorite titles include Sally Jean Bicycle Queen, Skateboard Mom, and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! 

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Natalie Sun, from Alameda Community Learning Center, was thrilled with her experience. It made her happy, she said, to see first graders at Nea Community Learning Center engaged and enthusiastic about walking and rolling. Amelia Johnson, from Castro Valley High, said that it brought back fond memories of childhood and she was so excited to be back at her old elementary school. Through fun activities like storytime, our staff are building a pipeline of engaged youth who understand the value of active and public transportation. While engagement activities look different at each grade level, it’s clear that kids of all ages get excited about sustainable, healthy transportation. 

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February 24 2023: The 2023 Golden Sneaker Contest is On!

Elementary and middle school students throughout Alameda County are tracking their travel to school for two weeks, receiving a point for every day they walk, bike, skateboard, scoot, carpool, or ride transit to school. Classrooms with the most points win stylish golden shoelaces for each student, and the coveted Golden Sneaker trophy.

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For more than a decade, led by TransForm’s Safe Routes to Schools team, the Golden Sneaker contest has encouraged thousands of students and families to use healthy and sustainable modes of transportation to and from school. This year, more than 100 schools across Alameda County will participate. We wish all participants the best of luck and may the best classroom win!

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February 10 2023: Keep Up the Momentum by Starting a Walking School Bus

Do you have fun walking to school during International Walk and Roll to School Day or the Golden Sneaker Contest? Make it a daily habit and join friends along the way with a Walking School Bus.

A Walking School Bus is an organized group of families living in the same neighborhood who form an adult supervised walking group to and/or from school. In other words, it’s like a carpool, minus the car. 

We have lots of resources to help you get started including a how-to toolkit, safety vests for route leaders, yard signs to promote your bus stops, and more. We can even create custom maps showing the Walking School Bus route, stops, and meeting times.