The Power of Coalitions In Building Safe Routes to School

Building strong partnerships within the community has been a key ingredient to the success of Mount Vernon’s Safe Routes to School (SRtS) program. Liz McNett Crowl, Coordinator of the Skagit County Physical Activity Coalition (SCPAC) and the Mount Vernon Healthy Communities Project (MVHCP), knows this well.

Since the mid-1990’s, McNett Crowl has helped build SCPAC, a vibrant community coalition composed of individuals from hospitals, the parks and recreation department, the transportation department, area businesses, the media, and local government.

The coalition’s goal is to increase levels of physical activity among all community members including youth and families. “There are many ways to increase kids’ physical activity levels,” says McNett Crowl. “But Safe Routes to School programs are the most promising because they incorporate physical activity into an every day activity.”

In a survey conducted by the MVHCP at Lincoln Elementary School in Mount Vernon, 68% of students said they wanted to walk to school. Initially, less than 10% of the student population was walking to school.

“We found that the two primary concerns of parents were stranger danger and traffic around the school, largely created by parents driving their children to school,” explains McNett Crowl. “So we identified three parking lots within a half-mile of the school and now use those as starting points for our Walking School Buses.”

Lincoln’s new Walking School Buses have become a huge success. “Lincoln went from having a trickle of walkers to having between 80 and 125 kids per day. The Walking School Bus is one way we’ve found that allows parents to say ‘yes’ to walking.”

As a health and fitness professional and avid walker, McNett Crowl is a believer in the benefits of moderate physical activity, such as walking. “Even just walking 30 minutes a day can help fight most major diseases. It can also improve your mental health, emotional well-being, and fight obesity.” She and the SCPAC believe that their work with children has helped promote these health benefits and improves the walking environment for everyone in the community.

“If we can make the streets safe for kids, we can make the streets safe for everyone. Safe Routes to School is one way we’ve found to take back the streets.”

Sign up to learn more about Walking School Buses and Safe Routes to School programs in your area,

OR: To learn more about programs in Mount Vernon, contact Liz at LCrowl@skagitvalleyhospital.org