Davidson Elementary School and town officials plan to encourage walking and biking to school this fall with a program called “Walking Wednesdays” on the first Wednesday of every month. In preparation, the police department and the DavidsonWalks citizens committee will offer training Wednesday, Aug. 22, for parents interested in leading “walking school buses” (photo).

The training session will be Wednesday, Aug. 22, at 7 p.m. at town hall, 216 S. Main St.

With a “walking school bus,” one or more parents lead a group of children to school on foot. According to town officials, this “can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school, or as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers.”

“A variation on the walking school bus is the bicycle train, where adults supervise children riding their bikes to school,” according to a notice about the program from Davidson officials.

Meanwhile, the town says it has a limited number of hand-held stop signs and yellow crossing guard vests available to those interested in leading a walking school bus or bicycle train.

WANT TO GO?

Pre-registration is encouraged for the Aug. 22 walking school bus training. To register, or for more information, please call Sara-Lynne Levine at 704-940-9602 or email her at slevine@ci.davidson.nc.us.