London Elementary School

The staff at London Elementary School has been hard at work preparing to launch their Safe Routes to School program.  Both the principal, Tammy Chandler, and the Physical Education teacher, Pam Huggins, have taken the necessary steps to become Road 1 certified, which means they have learned bicycling safety skills and passed both a written test and an on-road bicycling skills test.  London Elementary has also purchased bicycle and pedestrian safety curriculum to incorporate into classroom lessons, and they have launched a fantastic promotional campaign to encourage students to actively commute to school.

On October 7th London Elementary hosted a health and safety education event entitled “The Get Fit Event”.  Students and family members rotated from classroom to classroom to learn information from paramedics, parks and recreation representatives, Arkansas Tech student nurses and the District Wellness Coordinator, Janet Cook, among others.   At one station, students were allowed to run around a track and then have their heart rates, blood pressure and VO2 max checked by student nurses.  Students also received information about smoke-free environments and visited a nutrition station that had fruit kabobs, bottled water, vegetables, cheese and crackers.  The Arkansas Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Center (IPC) was also represented.  IPC staff gave presentations on pedestrian safety, car passenger safety and ATV safety.  Special emphasis was placed on pedestrian safety because students were participating in International Walk to School day on October 8th.

On October 8, 2008, London Elementary students were encouraged to walk to school in celebration of International Walk to School Day.  Several teachers, parents, and community volunteers met at the school at 7:00 AM and then proceeded to various neighborhoods to meet the children.  Adult volunteers provided each child a bright orange vest to wear and accompanied the students as they walked to school.  Some of the children happily chatted amongst themselves, while others sang various children songs.  All of the children had a fantastic time and were excited to walk to school with their friends.    

Approximately 100 students, which is more than 60% of the student body, participated in International Walk to School Day. London Elementary has four “Walking Wednesdays” planned this fall and they will begin bicycle safety courses in the spring.  

We applaud London Elementary School for their hard work and a job well done.