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Wednesday is International Walk to School Day

Several schools in the region are marking the day with special events Wednesday and throughout October.

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Wednesday marks 'Walk to School Day'
By
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Back in the day, I walked a mile to school. In the snow. When the weather was cold enough to freeze my wet hair. It wasn't all up hill (but it was pretty hilly).

But despite all that, I loved walking to school. In elementary school, I felt so independent leaving home with a couple of friends. In high school, it gave me an opportunity to clear my head, think about the coming day or what I needed to do when I got home.

And I'm having all kinds of flashbacks as I now walk my own daughter the half-mile to her school.

Wednesday is Walk to School Day. And dozens of schools across the state, including many in the Triangle and Fayetteville area, are participating with special events Wednesday, this month or throughout the year. Wake Forest Elementary School students, for instance, will walk to school from town hall starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

So as you make your way to work or school tomorrow, look out for more than the usual number of walkers.

And if you're lucky enough to live close enough to your school to walk, give it a try if you don't. According to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, about 10 percent of children nationwide walk to school regularly. Among those kids living within a mile of their school, only 25 percent are regular walkers.

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