Hundreds of local school children and parents have particpated in Walking Wednesdays at local schools in previous years.

The Community School of Davidson and Davidson Elementary will be joining schools from around the world to celebrate International Walk to School Day on October 5, 2011. In the U.S., International Walk to School Day will be celebrated at more than 3,500 events at participating schools. Walkers from the U.S. will join children and adults in 40 countries around the world.

A large number of elementary students will be walking and rolling to school along with parents, teachers and community leaders, including Mayor John Woods and Commissioner Connie Wessner, an administrator at Community School of Davidson.

All students are encouraged to participate. The students who walk or bike regularly are encouraged to take their normal routes as a part of the event. Details for the event are listed below by participating school.

Walk to School events work to create safer routes for walking and bicycling; they emphasize the importance of increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the broader community.

The event is being organized by the Town of Davidson and the participating schools. It will also lead to other events geared toward physical activity, pedestrian/bicycle safety, and environmental safety in the Davidson area schools.

For Davidson Elementary, the event will begin with drop-off from 7:45-8:15 a.m. for kids, parents and community leaders walking from the Village Green. Bus riders also will have the opportunity to walk to school from the Green, if they have a signed permission slip from a parent or guardian. Participants will receive a Walking Wednesday key chain and light refreshments will be provided at DES.

For the Community School of Davidson, the event will be held in a unique format due to the distance that some families live from the school. Children will go to school as they always do. Parents and children are once again encouraged to walk or bike if they live close enough. However, every child will utilize their physical education class to walk up to Roosevelt Wilson Park learning and practicing pedestrian safety, as if it was their walk to school.

For additional local information, please contact Leslie Willis, the town’s healthy living and wellness supervisor, at 704-940-9609.

At Davidson Elementary School, parent volunteers are needed to work at a check-in table at the Green, walking with groups of children to the DES campus, serving as crossing guards and helping with check-in and refreshments at the school. Contact Tammy Forthofer at tforthofer@mi-connection.com or Missy Johnstone at missyjohnstone@att.net.