International Walk to School Day

ST. PETERSBURG – Thirteen St. Petersburg elementary schools participated in the annual International Walk to School Day last Wed., Oct. 7. This is a global event sponsored by the National Center for Safe Routes to School that involves communities from more than 40 countries walking (and a few cycling) to school on the same day.

St. Petersburg police officers participated at the 13 schools, walking with groups, mingling with the students, marking the route in cruisers with lights activated or simply blocking traffic at cross streets where there is no crosswalk or crossing guard.

City councilmembers who participated Wednesday included Council Chair Charles Gerdes at Westgate Elementary; Councilmember Bill Dudley at Shore Acres Elementary and Councilmember Karl Nurse at Melrose Elementary. Council Member Wengay Newton participated on Friday when Fairmount Park held their walk.

“What a nice walk today! The weather was nice and cool and the sun was shining brightly as we walked to Melrose! I am so proud to be part of the staff here at Melrose. Despite what others may think or say, we work hard here at this school and we care about our children! This shows every day,” said Deneen Wyman, secretary/bookkeeper at Melrose Elementary.

“I would like to thank Mr. Curry for setting up and for driving staff to the location (along with Mr. Twitty who we asked last minute)! Thanks to Ben for playing music, to Mr. Gabe and his staff for preparing the food for the families, to our awesome journalism teachers for taking photos with the kids and to the many staff who participated in the walk! Our presence in the community is vital to Melrose, and we definitely made our presence known this morning,” Wyman finished.

Other schools that participated in the 2015 walk included: Bay Point, Bay Vista Fundamental, Campbell Park, Lakewood, Maximo, John M. Sexton, North Shore, Azalea and Northwest Elementary.