Pomaria-Garmany students got a break from sitting in the classroom Wednesday morning.
The whole school participated in the International Walk to School Day on Wednesday morning.
Physical education teacher Dianne Cotney explained to the students that they would be walking at school due to the rural area of Pomaria.
The pre-kindergarten through second graders walked the perimeter of the back parking lot while the third through fifth graders walked the perimeter of the front parking lot.
It was not just for students but Cotney and other teachers and even principal Beth Brooks had her sneakers on.
The students walked for 15 minutes where they were able to get some fresh air.
Cotney said, “I love to walk and love for my boys and girls to walk.”
“They were excited,” said Cotney upon her telling her students about the walk. After all, it was a chance for them to break outside and get a bit of exercise.
Cotney organized the whole event and this has been Pomaria-Garmany’s third year participating in it.
Brooks commends Cotney for her leadership in organizing this event as well as other fitness friendly activities for students.
“(She) does an excellent job with P.E. projects,” said Brooks.
In addition to the Walk to School program, Brooks explains, “She organized a project through USC in which students documented time they exercised for two weeks.”
This was an optional program for students and some students were able to win tickets to a USC game.
Brooks said that Cotney is also working to get Move bands that track movements. Since they are costly, they are working together on fundraisers or ideas to cut down on costs.
Brooks also said that, “All parents were notified about this event,” so that students could wear the appropriate shoes and attire.
Within the state, almost 200 schools were expected to participate through some sort of event. If students could not walk to school, they were encouraged to try alternatives such as what Pomaria-Garmany did.
The South Carolina Safe Routes to School supported the project which is under the South Carolina transportation department.
The event is meant to encourage or create safer roues for walking and bicycling and emphasize the importance of increasing physical activity among children, pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, concern for the environment and building connections between families, schools and the community.
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