Officials, students showcase how to walk to school safely

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — A couple students received a special escort to school on Wednesday as they walked on their morning route.

Jacen and Jonah Johnson have been walking to school for the past two years. Their parents also walk with them and teach safety lessons along the way. This time, joining them on the walk was a Pennsylvania State Trooper and other safety officials.

“I think we just leave it up to ourselves, the parents, to make sure that we know the safety situations and make sure we know what we need to be doing as parents to take care of our kids,” Jacen and Jonah’s dad, Rory Johnson, said.

PennDOT officials and the State Police experienced first-hand, what kids encounter on their commute as pedestrians.

The event focused on the importance of remembering that while fewer students walk to school now than in previous years, their safety should be kept in mind.

“Tips for them [kids] would be make sure before they’re crossing the street they’re looking both ways. Make sure they’re not running. They’re walking to school, make sure they’re visible for those vehicles that are traveling on the streets and make sure that before they cross that street, that it is safe to do so,” Trooper Jacob Rhymestine, Public Information Officer with PSP Troop G, said.

Crossing guards are stationed at most of the major intersections throughout Altoona where schools are located. However, walking safety doesn’t just apply to pedestrians.

“Even if your child’s riding the bus to school, we still have kids standing along the side of the road waiting for the bus to pick them up. So certainly just the nature of school means that there are kids out and about. So even if your child’s not a walker, we just want that back to school message to be loud and remind parents that there are more kids out and about and they may not be mindful of you as a motorist,” Kelly Whitaker, Central Regional Coordinator for PA Traffic Injury Prevention Project (PA TIPP), said.

Over 2,500 students in the Altoona Area School District identify as walkers. With most schools in Pennsylvania back in session, the Director of Police Services for the district said children should be able to go to school and come home safely.

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“Our kids are our future. So, you know, we’re going to be gone someday. But the kids are the ones that, you know, you want to see them mature and become a part of society and become fruitful and experience what we have as adults,” Bill Pfeffer, Director of Police Services for the Altoona Area School District, said.

For more information on back to school safety, visit PennDOT’s website by clicking here .

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