It was a special day for some students at Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School in Newmarket, as they participated in their Walk to School day on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
The annual October worldwide initiative, which wrapped up today in Newmarket, encourages families and students to engage in "active transportation" on their way to school.
Amy Lunshof said her two children usually take the bus to school, but the family wanted to be a part of the walk today.
“I like that we get up and get active in the morning,” she said.
Lunshof said walking to school is also an opportunity for her to spend more time with her kids and see other people in the community.
“I get to bring them. I like it when I’m at school with them,” she said. “I like to see all the kids and I get to see other parents, which I don’t get to do when they get on the bus. I don’t get to see them until they get home again, so we like that.”
While the walk to school was a special day for them, Lunshof admitted that it was a bit tough this morning with the cold weather and the fact that it was still dark outside.
It was a sentiment echoed by Mayor John Taylor who was on-hand to walk with the students for the special event.
Despite the chilly weather, he said, “It’s so great to see everyone here and everyone walking to school.”
The mayor shared a story from when he was a child living on Yonge Street in Newmarket, where the Canadian Tire is now.
He said at that time Yonge and Davis Drive was just “cow fields and a drive-in A&W” and he had to walk to school.
“I walked from there to old Newmarket High, which is over by Prospect Street, so pretty far but it was good,” he said.
Taylor then asked the students why they think it’s good to walk to school.
One girl responded that she likes to see the scenery as she walks, while another student said, “You can work out your legs.”
The final reason given by one of the students was to “stop pollution with cars.”
For the mayor, he added that as a former teacher in an Indigenous community in Manitoba, he loves being able to get outside and see the students in the morning.
This was Taylor’s second walk to school in celebration of International Walk to School Month.
On Wednesday, Oct. 6, he joined students from Alexander Muir Public School to kick off the month and walk them to their school in the morning.
