The only way we know if we're making progress getting more kids biking and walking to school is through our annual mode-of-travel tallies that PE teachers do at PSD schools.

We need as many teachers as possible throughout Fort Collins to take tallies for us Sept. 21-23 (and possibly more dates if you only see a limited number of students each week).

The tallies only take a few minutes at the start and end of each class and provide critical data to help keep Safe Routes going into the future. This data collection has been approved by the PSD Office of Research and Evaluation.

All teachers participating will be entered in a drawing for eight $25 Downtown Business Association gift cards!

Please contact Nancy Nichols at saferoutes@fcgov.com or 970-416-2357, and she will provide everything needed for you to participate.

Building off the success and reception of the spring 2021 challenge, in which about 700 students participated at Dunn, Riffenburgh and Shepardson, we're offering another Bike-/Walk-to-School Challenge. This October, we want many more schools to join the fun!

This is a great opportunity to get more kids riding bikes and walking/skateboarding/scootering to school.

Benefits of the challenge include:

• Students get more exercise/fitness on their way to/from school
• Added opportunity for students to practice SRTS principles and “rules of the road”
• Can tie into International Walk-to-School Day on Oct. 6

Students participating in the challenge will win bronze, silver, or gold certificates, depending on their level of participation.

The school with the highest percentage of students participating will also win a $100 gift certificate for school supplies from the local store of their choice.

Please contact Dave Dixon at Bike Fort Collins SRTS, srts@bikefortcollins.org, for details on how to participate by Sept. 22.

Schoolchildren all around the world will be walking to school on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

At Fort Collins schools, let's celebrate kids using any form of active transportation on this day -- walking, biking, skateboarding, and scootering!

As always, Safe Routes to School will provide giveaways for students participating in this event. 

Contact Nancy Nichols at saferoutes@fcgov.com to receive a form to fill out for giveaways.

Don't forget to register your event on the national website, too: walkbiketoschool.org.