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If Karen Coffey's kids are moving slowly before school in the morning, the Belmont mom has to say only one thing: "If you don't hurry, we're not going to get to walk today."
Her son Alexander is a third-grader at Belmont Central Elementary, which recently started WOW (Walk or Wheel) Wednesdays to encourage families to start their day with exercise. One hundred to 150 children participate each week, and on International Walk to School Day this fall, 240 youngsters arrived on foot.
About 50 families, including Alexander and his 4-year-old sister, Jordan, have made walking to school a daily ritual.
"To be honest, the traffic this year at the beginning of school was so terrible, I thought, 'Why don't we just walk?'" said Coffey, a member of the Belmont Central PTO Board. "... Both of the kids really enjoy it."
Some days, the Coffeys park at First Presbyterian Church and walk a little farther.
"It gets them both up and going in the morning," Coffey said. "Getting their blood flowing and increasing their activity level makes them more ready to learn. For Alexander, he's ready to sit in class and focus after he gets some of his energy out. And if we're running late, the threat of not getting to walk makes them both speed up a little bit."
Belmont Central Elementary, home to 700 students in grades 2-5, started WOW Wednesday in early September. Kids who participate receive rewards such as Frisbees, apples and boxes of raisins based on the number of times they walk.
Volunteers from the city of Belmont, Gaston County Health Department and the Belmont Parish Nurse Ministry help youngsters cross Eagle Road, walk along the sidewalk and reach school safely. You'll see them in bright green vests with WOW on the back.
Funding for the project was provided through a YMCA of Gaston County Healthy Community grant. The effort also is getting a boost from a Department of Transportation grant called Safe Routes to School, which will make sidewalk improvements and set up better signs.
Most children who participate in WOW Wednesday walk a quarter-mile to half-mile to reach campus. Four Square Church allows Belmont Central parents who live farther away to park there and walk their kids a few blocks to school. Bus riders can participate, too, since bus drivers will now stop a block away from school for those who want to walk.
"The children really enjoy it," said Belmont Central Principal Sara Moore. "They come together as a group and talk along the way, so they get some energy and chattiness out before they come to class. The fresh air and exercise mean they're wide awake when they get here."
In 10 weeks of doing WOW Wednesdays, people who live or commute near the school also have gotten accustomed to more children on foot.
"We even have kids riding push scooters and bicycles," Moore said. "Before we had volunteers to help the children, it really wasn't a safe route for that. I wish we could do it every day. If they learn to be active and healthy as children, it will carry through into adulthood."
