One of the best ways to build a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is to take a page from a winning playbook. Each year, the National Center for Safe Routes to School has the privilege of recognizing one Safe Routes to School program in the country for outstanding achievement in promoting safe walking and bicycling to school. In 2011 – a first in the history of the James L. Oberstar Safe Routes to School Award – two schools received this national honor: Heatherwood Elementary School in Boulder, Colo., and Omro Middle School in Omro, Wis.

This 60-minute webinar offers listeners the opportunity to learn from these award-winning programs. First, Melisa Kramer-Badtke, regional SRTS Coordinator, will explain how a program found success in the small, rural city of Omro, where only about 42 percent of middle school students live within two miles of the school and many of these students must cross one or more major barriers, including two highways and a river.

Next, Amy Thompson, SRTS coordinator for Heatherwood Elementary, will provide insight into how in just three years the School's SRTS efforts and activities resulted in an increase from 12 percent to more than 43 percent of the school's students regularly walking and bicycling to school. Amy will also discuss how their program was able to include the school's autistic students in the district-wide Bike to School Day. This effort was funded by $1,000 mini-grant from the National Center.

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