Bike to School Day 2014
Bike/Walk Central Florida will join with Orange County Public School children, Healthy Central Florida, parents, local law enforcement and elected officials to celebrate National Bike to School Day on Wednesday, May 6. Thousands of students will ride or walk to the more than 30 participating schools on Wednesday as part of the annual event to teach kids about safe biking skills.
Media visibility opportunities are available. Volunteers with Bike/Walk Central Florida’s Best Foot Forward program for pedestrian safety will carry their signature “IYield4Peds” signs and children are invited to wear their bike helmets with pride, decorate their bikes with school colors, and to wear bright colors to show they know it is safe to be seen. (NOTE: Media should plan on visibility opportunities in crosswalks and sidewalks leading up to the school entrances. Media will need permission by the school/parents to photograph or record video of the children.)
Dommerich Elementary School 8 to 8:45 a.m.
601 N. Thistle Lane, Maitland
Activity: Maitland’s newly elected Mayor Dale McDonald, Healthy Central Florida organizers and BWCF volunteers will join students and parents as they bike and walk to school. Media contact person: Michelle Sartor, (407) 227-5081
Maitland Middle School 8:50 to 9:25 a.m.
701 Thistle Lane, Maitland
Activity: Maitland’s newly elected Mayor Dale McDonald and Healthy Central Florida organizers will join students as they bike and walk to school. Media contact person: Michelle Sartor, (407) 227-5081
Ventura Elementary School 7:45 to 8:45 a.m.
4400 Woodgate Blvd., Orlando
Activity: BWCF volunteers will accompany students as they bike and walk to school as part of a bike parade. Children will be fitted with free bike helmets. Media contact person: Katy Magruder, (407) 376-2923
Cheney Elementary School 8:10 to 8:45 a.m.
2000 N. Forsyth Road, Orlando
Activity: Healthy Central Florida organizers and BWCF volunteers will accompany students as they bike and walk to school. Crosswalk enhancements were recently added to slow traffic on Forsyth Road. Media contact person: Carolina Silva, (954) 319-5579
Brookshire Elementary School 8 to 8:45 a.m.
2500 Cady Way, Winter Park
Activity: Healthy Central Florida organizers and BWCF volunteers will accompany students as they bike and walk to school as part of a bike parade. Children who bike to school will be highlighted on the Bike to School Wall of Fame. There will be a class contest for brightest colors and a bike tune-up clinic. Media contact person: Maria Pulido, (407) 377-6374
Audubon Park Elementary School 8 to 8:45 a.m.
1750 Common Way Road, Orlando
Activity: Healthy Central Florida organizers will accompany students as they bike and walk to school. Parents will take a Safe Routes to School survey to help direct efforts to boost bike/ped participation and improve safety. Media contact person: Jill Hamilton Buss, (407) 619-0410
Other area participating schools listed on the National Bike to School website are:
| Aloma Elementary School | Avalon Elementary School | Azalea Park Elementary School |
| Bonneville Elementary School | Camelot Elementary School | Chickasaw Elementary School |
| Citrus Elementary School | Engelwood Elementary School | Glenridge Middle School |
| Hungerford Elementary School | Killarney Elementary School | Lake Como Elementary School |
| Lake Gem Elementary School | Lake Silver Elementary School | Lake Sybelia Elementary School |
| Lakemont Elementary School | Liberty Middle School | Meadow Woods Elementary School |
| Ocoee Elementary School | Pershing Elementary School | Ridgewood Park Elementary School |
| Sun Blaze Elementary School | Westbrooke Elementary School | Windy Ridge Elementary School |
| Wyndham Lakes Elementary School |
About Bike/Walk Central Florida and Best Foot Forward
Bike/Walk Central Florida is a 501(c)(3) and responsible for administering, operating, and implementing the Best Foot Forward for pedestrian safety program launched in June 2012. The initiative was to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries in Metro Orlando by getting drivers to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and getting pedestrians to be more careful crossing the street. More than a campaign, this “Triple-E” behavioral change process seeks to create lasting social good through the consistent and persistent application of low-cost engineering, community education, and high-visibility enforcement.
Initiated by Bike/Walk Central Florida under the leadership of former Orange County Mayor Linda Chapin, spearheaded by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Mayor Teresa Jacobs, the Best Foot Forward coalition includes Orange County Government, Orange County Public Schools, Orlando Health, Lynx, Winter Park Health Foundation, MetroPlan Orlando, the City of Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Winter Garden, Apopka, and towns of Eatonville and Windermere as well as police chiefs throughout Orange County led by Orlando Police Chief John Mina and Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings.
The long term goal is to cut pedestrian injuries in half in ten years. The short term goals are to increase driver yield rates by 60 percent on roads posted 35 mph and higher, and a 10 percent increase on driver yield rates year over year on roads posted 40 mph and higher. To learn more, go to http://bikewalkcentra.wpengine.com/.
About National Bike to School Day
National Bike to School Day, coordinated by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, provides an opportunity for communities across the country to join together to bike to school on the same day. The event builds on the excitement surrounding National Bike Month, led by the League of American Bicyclists each May, as well as the popularity of Walk to School Day, coordinated by the National Center for Safe Routes to School every October.
National Bike to School Day is based on the Walk to School Day model. Walk to School Day was founded in 1997 as a way to bring community leaders and children together to build awareness for communities to be more walkable. The one-day event has now grown to a month-long celebration with students and parents from more than 4,000 U.S. schools joining millions of Walk to School Day and Month participants worldwide. The reasons for walking have grown just as quickly as the event itself. For more information on bike and walk to school activities in the United States, visit www.walkbiketoschool.org.
