Tuesday January 18, 2011
In this issue:
Register Now for Winter Walk Day 2011
Register your school or youth group for Winter Walk Day at www.taketheroofoffwinter.ca
(click “Be a Supporter”) and qualify for prizes and resources as an official supporter of Take the Roof Off Winter, coordinated by Recreation Nova Scotia. When you register your school or youth group, it will be recognized on the Take the Roof Off Winter web site and listed on the events page. It will also receive a free Winter Walk Day Kit including:
- 7 toques to give away (or 5 toques and 5 zipper pulls)
- Full colour Winter Walk Day posters
- Promotional templates
- Winter Walk Day Teachers Guide (grades P to 7 curriculum)
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IWALK Got them Moving
A total of 98 schools participated from across Nova Scotia during International Walk to School Month (IWALK) throughout October 2010. Based on an average of 81.5% participation in each school, an estimated 19,560 students took part in the event in addition to staff, parents and community members. There was a 13% increase in walking or cycling to school among students during the school events (not including students that participated in walk at school activities who were bused). ASRTS thanks Cyclesmith of Halifax and the Heart&Stroke Walkabout for their prize donations. Prize-winning schools can be viewed here.
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Seeking More Pace Car Communities
Tired of speeding on your streets? Why not make your community a Pace Car Community? The Pace Car program continues to be a simple but effective program to implement. Residents in your community pledge to drive the speed limit and to make your streets safer.
The Pace Car program, under Active & Safe Routes to School, supplies all materials at no cost. It also provides support and information on how the community can take leadership to reduce speeding by forming a Pace Car Team and launching the program.
We’re looking forward to Pace Car launching this spring in Bedford (Basinview Community School) and to continuing to expand it in the Bridgewater and Chester area.
Due to the energy of Pace Car Teams and champions across the province, there are currently 2450 registered Pace Car drivers and over 800 Pace Car deputies. It won’t be long before there are many more.
Contact Margot Metcalfe, Pace Car Coordinator for more information at pacecar@ecologyaction.ca, (902) 425-0502, www.pacecar.ca
. Pace Car is a partnership of Active & Safe Routes to School, the IWK Health Centre Foundation and the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
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Youth Engagement Workshops Attract Many
Active & Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) worked with partnering organizations to hold three Youth Engagement in Active Transportation: Adult Facilitator Workshops in November. They were facilitated by Arthur Orsini, an international expert on the topic. Thanks to our partners in delivering these workshops - the NS Department of Health Promotion and Protection, HEAL Cape Breton, Cape Breton Regional Municipality and AcTraC (Active Transportation Coalition of Cape Breton County) – a total of 68 people attended two workshops in Sydney and one workshop in Dartmouth.
Learn more about Arthur Orsini’s work at http://www.urbanthinkers.ca. A Guide to Child and Youth Engagement in Active School Travel Projects
authored by Orsini for Green Communities Canada is a great supporting resource. Learn about Active & Safe Routes to School’s various initiatives for engaging children and youth in active transportation in Nova Scotia at www.saferoutesns.ca.
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Sustainable Happiness & Health Curriculum and School Travel Planning
Sustainable Happiness
is “happiness that contributes to individual, community and/or global well-being and does not exploit other people, the environment, or future generations.” The concept merges principles from sustainability and happiness studies, encouraging individuals, communities and organizations to reflect on opportunities to leave a legacy of sustainable happiness. Learn how it is particularly applicable to active transportation such as walking or wheeling to school in the School Travel Planning Fall 2010 national newsletter.
Sustainable Happiness and Health Education is a Teacher’s Guide for grades P/K-6. Lesson plans are designed to meet the Canadian health education curriculum outcomes. Many lesson plans could readily be adapted to older grades. See the Nova Scotia version and the French version at http://sustainablehappiness.ca/for-educators.
Webinars are available for Teachers and School Travel Plan Facilitators on:
- Feb 16, 3:00 to 4:30pm EST in NU, ON, QC, NB (4:00 pm start in NS and PEI, 4:30 pm start in NF)
- Feb 23, 4:00 to 5:30 EST (3:00 pm CST start in SK, MB and part ON)
- Mar 2, 6:00 to 7:30 EST (4:00 pm MST start in NT, AB, and part BC, 3:00 pm start in YT and BC)
Please contact Sandra Jones to register at scjones@telus.net.
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NS Youth Show Active Transport Films at Film Festival
By Wayne McKay, Glace Bay Youth Action Committee Facilitator
Members of the Glace Bay Youth Action Committee received funding from the Nova Scotia Road Safety Youth Committee to travel to Fredericton in November 2010 to attend the Silver Wave Film Festival. This trip was the last part of a project called The Action League
that the group had been working on for a year. The project involved the creation of a dramatic presentation and two films which were presented at schools in CBRM to encourage students to walk and cycle more and to be safe when walking and cycling. The two films, Walking with Sideaphobia and Showdown at King’s Cross
, were also submitted to the Silver Wave Film Festival and accepted into the youth category. The youth travelled to Fredericton to present the films to hundreds of people who showed up for the screening. Many of those in attendance were also youth so the safety message of the film was extended to these youth as well. The film, Walking with Sideaphobia, was nominated for Best Youth Entry.
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Upcoming Events in NS
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Active School Travel Resources
Reports
Studies
News & Guides
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News Highlights from Twitter
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About Active & Safe Routes to School
Active & Safe Routes to School in Nova Scotia encourages more children, youth and their families to use active transportation - such as walking and cycling - for the environment, physical activity and traffic safety. It is coordinated in Nova Scotia by the Ecology Action Centre in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection as part of the Active Kids Healthy Kids Initiative.
Active & Safe Routes to School
www.saferoutesns.ca
www.twitter.com/asrts
asrts@ecologyaction.ca
Tel: (902) 442-5055
Fax: (902) 405-3716
Ecology Action Centre
2705 Fern Lane, Halifax, NS B3K 4L3
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