'Walking school bus' hopes to limit childhood obesity

NORTH LIBERTY - Johnson County is trying to get more kids and parents to burn calories instead of gasoline on their daily commute to school.

The county's Obesity Task Force is piloting a program at Garner Elementary School in North Liberty called Walking School Bus, that encourages students to take the opportunity on Wednesday mornings to walk to school in large, parent-chaperoned groups.

The task force was looking for different ways to increase kids' physical activity from currently-perceived low levels and walking to school seemed like a natural fit, said Iola Feldkamp an educator with the Johnson County Public Health Department.

"It's a really easy way to get in 40 minutes of daily physical activity, and that's almost to the recommended amount of 60 minutes," she said.

More than 70 students took advantage of the program this Wednesday, and could be seen roaming the sidewalks along with parent volunteers wearing orange shirts with the words "I'm a walking school bus driver" printed on them.

Garner Elementary was selected out of all the schools in the county because it's situated in a very walk-able neighborhood, and because the school already has a strong focus on physical education, with a PE4Life grant supplementing its curriculum.

The grant allows the school to  promote physical education beyond the building and in the larger community. It's important that the school promote fitness because of research linking health and well-being to quality learning, said physical education teacher Karen Bagby.

"I always tell the kids, there's a huge connection between your body and brain," she said.

The school normally spends a week in April encouraging its students to walk or ride their bikes to school, but the new initiative coupled with unseasonably warm weather allowed them to move forward sooner, said principal Mindy Paulsen.

Addie Martinez served as one of the "drivers," helping to walk her 4th grade son and his classmates from their home in the Cedar Springs neighborhood. Her son frequently travels to school by foot, bike and scooter, and she's happy the school is encouraging more families to do the same.

"It's great to see everybody out and walking," she said.