Bike to/at School Day is a way to support unchanging community goals in a time of great change, whether the goal is to strengthen community connections, promote physical activity, advance road safety, reduce motor vehicle trips, celebrate the benefits of walking and rolling or something else.
Whether you’re encouraging individual families to celebrate, organizing a neighborhood-wide event or recognizing the day on a school campus, there are ways to be part of Bike to School Day. Get inspiration from event ideas submitted by Walk and Bike to School Day organizers around the country below. Then, register your family, neighborhood or school here! Check out tips for walking and rolling while social distancing from San Mateo County Office of Education and King County Metro Transit, and be sure whatever you promote aligns with local public health guidance. The Safe Routes to School Program in Western North Carolina is housed at the Jackson County Department of Public Health and serves Jackson, Haywood, Macon, and Swain Counties. |
JOIN IN ON THE FUN
Families
-Encourage students to join a “virtual walk” or “virtual bike” with their families, neighbors or on their own and report their mileage. Tally up the mileage and share the total miles covered by the school.
-Create a “traffic garden” in the school parking lot using chalk. Invite families to bring their bikes and practice their biking skills. Encourage coming on a specific day of the week depending on last name to minimize the chances of several families using it at the same time (for example, students with last names A–F would be invited to bike the garden on Monday).
-Encourage families to participate in any kind of outdoor physical activity, whether it’s running, walking, riding, rolling or something else. If students are remote, they can share pictures of their activity with classmates to build a sense of shared experience.
–Build a schedule of activities for the week of Bike to School Day with a different theme every day. For inspiration, check out the lineup below and make adjustments to make it work for your community:
- Monday: Inspire. Decorate your sidewalk, windows or bike with signs of encouragement to bike and walk for your neighbors. For motivation to get biking, older students and caregivers can check out this inspirational video from People for Bikes.
- Tuesday: Prepare. Conduct a bike safety and helmet fit check. Do you have a bicycle? If so, have you done a basic safety check? Check the fit of your helmet and teach others in your family how to properly fit their helmets. Then, do the ABC Quick Check with help from the League of American Bicyclists. If you’re teaching a new bicyclist to ride, check out this instructional REI video for beginners.
- Wednesday: Get out there! Get out for a walk or ride with your family! Can you take a test ride to your school or around your neighborhood? Or take a walk to hunt for chalk art or signs created by others near you? Share a photo of your family or a location on your route with the tag #BiketoSchoolDay.
- Here are a few places in our area you can bike!
- Jackson County-
- Jackson County Greenway
- Paved trail - 342 Old Cullowhee Rd. Sylva, NC
- Recreation Center in Cullowhee Trails
- Mixed surfaces - 88 Cullowhee Mtn. Rd. Cullowhee, NC
- Recreation Center in Cashiers Trail
- Mixed surfaces - 355 Frank Allen Rd. Cashiers, NC
- Mark Watson Park
- Paved trail - 86 Mark Watson Park, Sylva
- Savannah Community Park
- Paved trail - 270 Greenway Rd. Sylva
- Webster Community Park – Mixed Surfaces
- Other places recommend that are not Jackson County Parks and Rec would be trails at Fairview School and Cullowhee Valley School. Additionally, Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College campuses.
- Macon County –
- Parker Meadows Recreation Complex – 4199 Patton Rd Franklin, NC 28734
- www.parkermeadowscomplex.com (828) 349-2090
- Friends of the Greenway – 573 East Main Street Frankling, NC 28734
- www.littletennessee.org (828) 369-8488
- Macon County Veterans Memorial Park – 1288 George Rd Franklin, NC 28734 (828) 349-2090
- Parker Meadows Recreation Complex – 4199 Patton Rd Franklin, NC 28734
- Haywood County
- Waynesville Greenway - follows Richland Creek
- Can begin or end at Lake Junaluska or Waynesville Recreation Park
- Waynesville Recreation Center walking trail
- 550 Vance St. Waynesville, NC
- Allens Creek Park walking loop
- 1725 Allens Creek Road, Waynesville, NC
- Lake Junaluska walking loop
- 91 N. Lakeshore Dr. Waynesville, NC
- Canton Rec Park
- 77 Penland St. Canton, NC
- Vance Street Park - Clyde, NC
- River’s Edge Park - Clyde, NC
- Waynesville Greenway - follows Richland Creek
- Swain County -
- Swain County Park - 1.2 Mile loop
- 30 Rec Park Drive, Bryson City, NC
- Swain County Park - 1.2 Mile loop
- Here are a few places in our area you can bike!
- Thursday: Share. Do you have safety concerns with walking or biking around your neighborhood? Learn more about who can help address those concerns using this list from PBIC and reach out.
- Friday: Talk. Hold a five-minute interview with family members about their experience walking or biking. Look into online resources and biking and walking activities encouraged by your state or community transportation departments and advocacy groups.
Other things you can do include:
- Collect stories of how their time is being spent away from their schools, friends and teachers so they can tell about their favorite parts of staying healthy while away from these important aspects of being social in a social distancing time.
- Have them tell video stories, write journals or draw pictures about what they miss most while schools are closed.