Baldwin County Schools take ‘Walk to School Day’ a step further

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Schools across Georgia celebrated the 8th annual ‘Walk to School Day’ on Wednesday. But Baldwin County Schools took the celebration a step  further.

“Well as you can see if you walk over to Oak Hill you can see that we actually were walking on the roads,” said Superintendent Dr. Noris Price.

Now, not having a safe walking path to school is water under the bridge for students in the county.

“We are celebrating and opening up this wonderful walk bridge.” Price added.

Price says it came just in time for the states annual ‘Walk and Bike to School Day’.

“Safety is a top priority and Blandy Road is a very  busy road especially in the morning and during dismissal,” Price continued.

The new bridge will connect the 4 Baldwin County schools within minutes of each other that sit along the road .

“Before the sidewalks or bridges were here there wasn’t that opportunity,” said Live Healthy Baldwin Director Jim Lidstone.

At the same time, it will help kids stay active. “About 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese so it’s very high,” Lidstone added.
The focus of it is getting our students and staff to walk now that they have the opportunity.

“It’s one thing to say I want to be physically active but, if I don’t have a safe place to do it then kids are not likely to,” he continued.

Lidstone says this is only the start of a much larger project.

“The Safe Routes to School program is all about finding ways to get kids to walk or bike to school, so what we have to do is to connect to the neighborhoods now by what we call the Fishing Creek Community Trail, ” said Lidstone.

They want the path to eventually connect to downtown Milledgeville. But in the meantime, it will give students a safe way to get active before and after the bell rings.