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Walking School Bus for Weaver Elementary

Photos -- We have 50 Photos -- Walking School Bus in action!!
Photos Set 1        Photos Set 2

Since the inception of Weaver's Walking School Bus there has been quite a bit of news coverage. Here is a list of article:

Laura Glynn was in charge of organizing the Walking School Bus.  She found the idea and pursued it. Between her and the neighborhood officer, Angela, this idea became a reality. Her contact info:   Phone:  831-3928.  Email Laura at lauralee323@yahoo.com

Julie and Susan are truly appreciated and dedicated volunteers out there everyday rain or shine walking kids to and from school!!  They sincerely deserve a HUGE round of applause!!

The Weaver Walking School Bus is an amazingly great idea. It ensures the safety of the children in our neighborhood on their way to and from school. This is an exciting idea. Be sure to get more information by contacting Laura, Julie or Susan.

It works like a regular school bus with scheduled bus stops etc... the only difference is the "riders" walk. An adult leads and another adult brings up the caboose.  This will help children have a safe walk to and from school.  My hats off to the organizers, they worked really hard on this!!

Over 50 children are now signed up and regularly "ride" the Walking School Bus!!

When it was announced that Fairbanks Elementary school was going to be merged with Weaver Elementary school, some parents became concerned that some children living farthest from Weaver might have to walk long distances along streets with heavy traffic.  My wife, Laura, and our neighborhood  P.A.R. officer, Angela Burgess, met one evening to discuss this.  After some research, they discovered a program sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called kidswalk-to-school.  The program involves volunteer adults walking along defined routes to pick up children from defined “bus stops” and escorting them to school.   It was described as a way to promote habits of physical fitness and exercise.  We liked the adult escort, as it fit our needs perfectly, and the exercise promotion excited us. We are designing our program to closely match that program, but are making it further suit our needs.

     Our “bus drivers” are all volunteers, all family of Weaver students. They have undergone background checks, and have attended meetings to examine routes and familiarize them with their duties. Each driver wears a vest with reflective lettering, to easily identify them, and a large umbrella for bad weather.

     We are going to supply the children with pedometers, so they can see how far they have walked, and are going to offer incentives to the children who have walked the most. They will be encouraged to wear them while playing, and hope the incentives will encourage them to engage in more activity. We are contacting businesses that might be interested in donating incentives with “kid interest”.

     Caring Communities has become interested and has given us a grant to help buy our jackets, umbrellas, background checks, etc. We have been told they may be considering giving us another grant this year. Urban Neighborhoods Alliance has offered support and Community Partnership of the Ozarks has not only supplied aid but has told us they would like to look into funding a position that would oversee implementing and coordinating our program, or another like it, citywide.

****Letter from the governor of Missouri about Weaver's Walking School Bus Gov[1].BluntGreeting-WeaverBus.pdf***

Thank you, Laura, for finding and pursuing this great project. Thank you, Julie and Susan for seeing this program through. It is obvious that you have put much caring, time and effort into this twice daily project and your neighborhood truly appreciates it!!

The Grant Beach Neighborhood Betterment Association is a group of citizens working together to maintain and improve the quality of living in our area. We meet monthly on a regular basis to address neighborhood concerns, and encourage residents to start smaller neighborhood watch groups in their block. We believe that people should actively participate as citizens in a democracy and as neighbors in in a community. We are a group of citizens interested in working together to maintain and improve the living quality of our neighborhood, motivate the city to address our concerns, be a spawning ground for neighborhood watch programs and build a sense of community among us. Working together, there is little that cannot be done, working apart there is little that can be done.

Mission Statement: "Improving the quality of life in our neighborhood"

This website is simply a tool we use to help keep our neighbors connected to each other, to their neighborhood and to their City of Springfield, Missouri. Please consider attending the monthly meeting. Potluck Dinner for the whole family and Free child care for the meeting

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