Christine Whelan FEO, September 15, 2022, 2022, VOL. 4 ISSUE 2
Between the Lines: Safe and Active Travel For School featuring BLUE the Butterfly teaches kids the importance of road safety for pedestrians, promoting active travel to school and the role of crossing guards.
Jennifer Pennell-Ajie, EA to Director and Division Coordinator for the Town of Fort Erie says her hope is to get the program into the grade 1-3 classes for all eight schools in the Fort Erie area.
“We started working with the brand in late 2020. Niagara Falls approached us to work in partnership with them,” she shared.
“Niagara Falls had been running an in-school program for quite a while. So, when a grant came up, the opportunity to expand the program was there.”
The Niagara Region, under Public Health, in partnership with Niagara Students Transportation Services (NSTS), developed and ran a project called BLUE the Butterfly. “They had been given a grant by Green Communities to present this as a safe walking tool to get people out and active in the region.
“So, we combined the in-school program, the crossing guards and BLUE the Butterfly as a way to expand the program. We were able to pilot it here in Fort Erie, at St. Philomena’s, and it went over well. We had a lot of people involved. Brock University helped us with the survey work. The NSTS, the School Board and the Niagara Region Public Health Unit all supported us through the process.
“That was really fun. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.”
What is the program?
The goal is to get the kids to start walking to school.
“We have an interactive game that we do with the kids at school, grades 1-3. We go into the schools and talk about safe walking, using our crossing guards and talk about being active.”
It has a green component. “We talk a little bit about the environment. When you drive a car, it can pollute the air, but if you walk or ride your bike, you are being more environmentally friendly.”
They teach kids how to be safe and respectful in their neighbourhood. “We talk about walking in groups, respect of the roadways and environment, crossing the road safely, and using the sideway. We talk about respecting people’s property along the way, not picking people’s flowers, for example.”
The Town hopes that the kids then make it a family affair. “We give little grab bags to the kids at the end of the presentation so they have something to take home to show their parents. This way they can discuss what they’ve learned with their parents. The parents then can go on our website and check the program out.”
Six of eight of the schools have crossing guards that cross the children for them. “The plan is to still go into the two schools that don’t have crossing guards. I think it’s a worthwhile talk anyway. I bring a crossing guard to the presentation so we have that real-life crossing guard involved as well.” “We’re really excited to get back into the schools this year, now that the COVID restrictions are lessened. I’m looking at reaching out to the schools in September to book presentations in October and November. If not in those months, we’ll look at when it will work best for each school, when they can fit it into their curriculum.”
The Town is now working to remind the community that, with school back in, the kids are out and about again. They have been posting on social media.
www.forterie.ca/pages/SchoolCrossingGuardProgram is the webpage for parents and school faculty to learn more. The webpage includes: a YouTube video about the program, a crossing guard schedule, Bill 31 Rules of the Road for drivers during school hours and a way to have BLUE the Butterfly come to your school
