Co-written by Community Partners’ School and Community Worksite Wellness Coordinator Kate Hannon.
There is no denying summer is over and school is underway. The school routine can be hard to get into, especially picking up and dropping off students. Allowing your students to walk and bike to school could be the answer. Nationally, the percentage of children walking or biking to school has dropped from approximately 50% in 1969 to 13% in 2009. But in Buffalo County 80% of youth living within a half mile of their school have asked to walk or ride their bikes. So why aren’t they walking? While there are barriers to the active commute, there are many possibilities to make walking and biking a routine.

Walking the route with the student and teaching the rules of the road is very beneficial. After a few times of guiding them and having your student show you what to do, you will create safe commuting habits. Along the way, there may be other families who are walking or who live in your neighborhood. Develop a walking group with them and pick up others who live on the route to school. Having strength in numbers increases safety and assurance your student will arrive at school safely. If the daily commute is lengthy, choosing an alternative drop-off or pick-up location at a nearby park, church, or friend’s house would be the perfect compromise.

Walking and biking to school increases children’s activity levels, develops a sense of independence and confidence, and builds physically active lifestyles. Around the school and community, active commuting decreases traffic congestion and builds safety among neighborhoods.

Safe Routes to SchoolBuffalo County Community Partners has worked on a developing Safe Routes to School through a grant from the Nebraska Department of Roads. Over the past year, Kenwood, Northeast, Park, Windy Hills, Pleasanton and Ravenna have all worked at their own capacity to increase walking and biking to school. Every fall and spring there are national walk/bike to school days. This past spring, Windy Hills and Northeast elementary had 80% of their students walk or bike to school. Many elementary schools have 5th grade students serve as safety patrol which brings awareness around school zones before and after school. Many schools have implemented pedestrian crossing signs around their school to assist with traffic speeds. Creating sustainable walking and biking habits takes education, encouragement, and enforcement.

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Order Now

Check out our new Keepsake Companion Journal that pairs with our So God Made a Mother book!

Order Now
So God Made a Mother's Story Keepsake Journal

Holden Armstrong

Holden Armstrong is the coordinator of Activate Buffalo County, a community health initiative that promotes active living and healthy eating as part of the Buffalo County 2020 Vision. Health resources, local events and activities, plus a lot of other cool stuff can be found at their website: ActivateBuffaloCounty.com. Activate Buffalo County is powered by Buffalo County Community Partners.

Putting Our Christian Kids in Public School Was Absolutely the Right Choice For Our Family

In: Faith, Kids, School
Putting Our Christian Kids In Public School Was Absolutely the Right Choice For Our Family www.herviewfromhome.com

I was in the middle of an online mom group conversation when the subject turned to education. One mama commented that her family had decided to send their kids to private Christian school. “It’s a big sacrifice,” she said, “but it’s worth it. I just couldn’t bear to throw my kids to the wolves of public school.” I read that comment and thought about my own children, sitting among those wolves at that very moment. And they were there not because my husband and I couldn’t or wouldn’t make the sacrifice to send them somewhere else—but because we’d deliberately, intentionally...

Keep Reading

Dear Teacher, I See You

In: Journal, School
Dear Teacher, I See You www.herviewfromhome.com

I see you struggling to make ends meet. You look at how much is coming in and how much is going out, and you don’t know how you’re going to do it. Again. You wonder if this is a never-ending cycle. Will it always be this hard? Will you make it to retirement? Do you even want to make it to retirement, or should you run away and find the quickest job you can find just so you don’t have to argue with another child about whether or not you actually witnessed him talking when he was supposed to be...

Keep Reading

Dear God, Please Fill the Holes

In: Child, Faith, Motherhood, School
Dear God, Please Fill the Holes www.herviewfromhome.com

When I drop my kids off at school and they all pile out with bags and water bottles and lunch boxes as the line lady urges us forward (“Pull forward!!!”) I always smile and cheerily say something like, “Have a great day!” or “See you after school!” or “Love you guys!” But that’s not all I really want to say. That’s not what I want to press into them as they leave me for seven hours of the day to friends and not friends and teachers and schoolwork and pressure and LIFE. I want to say, “I know it’s hard....

Keep Reading

Dear Girl, Your Best Friend is Out There

In: Child, School
Dear Girl, Your Best Friend is Out There www.herviewfromhome.com

This school year, I hope you finally find a best friend. I know you struggle with making connections. Your fierce independence doesn’t exactly help attract playmates. You don’t understand why everyone doesn’t always want to play what you want to play, or why they don’t always share your same likes and interests. From the moment you started school, I have longed for the days of you coming home and asking if you can have a sleepover. I have wished you would connect with someone. I’ve laid in bed at night and prayed you would meet another little girl who loves...

Keep Reading

This North Dakota Homecoming Queen is Capturing Hearts Everywhere

In: Inspiration, Kids, School, Teen
This North Dakota Homecoming Queen is Capturing Hearts Everywhere www.herviewfromhome.com

When Paula and Kevin Burckard’s third child was born, she arrived with a little something extra the North Dakota couple never saw coming.  Newborn Grace had Down syndrome, and the diagnosis initially left the young parents devastated. “When Grace was born, I thought all my dreams for my daughter had basically been dashed,” Paula said.  But it didn’t take long for those fears to subside.  As Grace grew, not only did she meet and surpass milestones, her infectious joy, inspirational grit, and deep love of all things Michael Jackson transformed the family—and countless hearts. The Burckhards went on to adopt...

Keep Reading

Your Kids Will Turn Out Just Fine Even if They Don’t Do All the Things

In: Kids, School, Teen, Tween
Your Kids Will Turn Out Just Fine Even if They Don't Do All the Things www.herviewfromhome.com

My teenage daughters teach a preschool dance class, and one night not too long ago, they had a very unhappy client.  The poor thing was crying and screaming and was generally miserable. She did not want to be there . . . not that night and not ever. Oh, I remember those days. My own oldest dancer was a very unhappy beginning ballerina at one point . . . so unhappy that we pulled her out of class without even finishing the month we’d paid for. (Yes, I know you’re not supposed to do that.) Five years after she hung up...

Keep Reading

Our Daughter Hated School; We Finally Discovered Why (and How to Help)

In: Child, Mental Health, School
Our Daughter Hated School; We Finally Discovered Why (and How to Help) www.herviewfromhome.com

I wish we had clued in to our daughter’s generalized anxiety disorder a lot earlier then we did. It’s not for a lack of information available, it’s just that you don’t research it when you believe your child simply hates school. I mean our generation struggled with complicated friendships, PE class, and strict teachers too. Even our great-grandmothers had to survive the “mean girls”. So, our children will make it through, too, right? The problem is sometimes it’s more than just struggling to fit in; it’s a debilitating anxiety that leaves them feeling like they are treading in water over...

Keep Reading

What Happens When we Stop Pushing Our Kids so Hard?

In: Journal, Kids, School, Teen, Tween
What Happens When we Stop Pushing Our Kids so Hard? www.herviewfromhome.com

I kick them from the house, drag my tweens to this leafy patch of monkey bars, repurposed tires, and shade. It is summer, and the whole neighborhood has stared at screens, practiced math and dozed like molting snakes for too many hours. So my children do not want to be here, and they show me; their disdain vibrates off their shoulders. Hands deep in their pockets as they kick at the gravel, then a silver slide, they sip boredom with each roll of the eyes. Even worse, I have made them leave their cell phones in the car, although their...

Keep Reading

The Excitement of the First Day of School is Over…Now What?

In: Child, Kids, School
The Excitement of the First Day of School is Over...Now What? www.herviewfromhome.com

I still remember the excitement of the first day of school, and I’m old. The smell of newly-sharpened pencils and the tower of new books stacked on top of our desks was mesmerizing. It was also fun because my early September birthday coincided with the beginning of school and the Miss America pageant, which I was confident I would win someday. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t.) Finding my friends and comparing summer adventures and the latest shoe styles was uppermost in my mind. We wore uniforms, so the only way to be unique was with a great pair of shoes. (Another...

Keep Reading

Want Your Kid to Succeed? Don’t be a Lawnmower Parent

In: Kids, School, Teen, Tween
Want Your Kid to Succeed? Don't be a Lawnmower Parent www.herviewfromhome.com

At a recent back to school night for my middle school daughter, one of her teachers explained that it is time for our kids to take responsibility for their grades, and each student needed to be personally accountable. He told the classroom of parents that several kids received a zero on an assignment for not completing it on time, but it was a minimal portion of their grade. “The point is for them to understand from the get-go that deadlines are important, and there will be consequences.” Several parents, including me, subtly checked phones to see if our kids received...

Keep Reading