| September
2006 |
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Southland Launches Safety Project Principal: ‘We Had a Horrendous Traffic Problem’ CBF Grants Help Schools ‘Walk to School’ Four Steps for a Walk to School Event |
City Program is ‘Stepping Stone’
Mayor Daley’s Safe Routes Ambassadors goes beyond giving children traffic safety tools. The program encourages children to think critically about transportation. “Safe Routes to School is just a stepping stone to safe routes to the park, safe routes to shopping, safe routes to church and to a general reprioritization of modes of transportation,” said outgoing Safe Routes Ambassadors program director Beth Gutelius, who last month was named to lead the Chicago Department of Transportation’s pedestrian program. The Safe Routes Ambassadors team, which includes new program manager Emily Fitzgerald and four instructors, continually reshapes the Safe Routes to School curriculum. They use a variety of educational methods to reach students with an array of needs including learning disabilities, limited English proficiency and varied learning styles. Gutelius, who has a background in education, said the team keeps the material engaging and relevant. Presentations include rhymes, a question-and-answer period, an interactive map, as well as exercises that use a model of a typical street. In the coming year, the Ambassadors will expand the audience of the Safe Routes presentations to adults. Staff are training to speak to community members and school staff – including the Local School Councils – about new federal funding available for Safe Routes to School. Gutelius said the Ambassadors will lead groups in discussing how to make active transportation to school safer and more accessible. In turn, these adults can educate others about Safe Routes to School. “We want to plant seeds,” she said. “And we want to provide ways for others to plant seeds.” A feature of the Safe Routes to School Program is its ability to reach a great number of schools in a variety of areas. “It’s unprecedented to have a program that blankets the city and tries to reach everyone equally,” Gutelius said. “The geographic spread (of schools involved in Safe Routes to School) means that we have contacts all over the city and that we can talk about more than traffic safety,” Gutelius said. By outlining the benefits of active transportation, like fun, independence and companionship with fellow pedestrians/bicyclists, the program motivates children to get out of their parents’ cars and into the fresh air. Claire Micklin is a volunteer Bike Traffic contributor and editor
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