Last Wednesday, King PK-8 School had its first Walk to School Wednesday. Over 25 children (along with their parents) gathered at Irving Park (3/4 mile from school) to start their morning with a fresh brisk walk. Carrying signs that read “King School loves to walk” and “ven a caminar con nosotros” a parade of children and parents walked along NE 7th street to King Elementary School.

Safe Routes to School and El Programa Hispano worked together with a group of Latino parents at King School to organize the “Walk to School Wednesdays.” The Latino parents had recently gone through El Programa Hispano’s Academia de Líderes, a leadership development program for parents. After graduating from the program, the parents at King Elementary were ready to lead a school project. They chose to organize a "walking school bus" for King families.

Every Wednesday (that is not a "late start"), King families will gather at Two Plum Park at 8:15am to walk to school together. On late start Wednesdays (the second Wednesday of every month), families will meet farther away at Irving Park at 9:50 for a longer walk. Although the park sits outside the school boundary, the parents have decided that once a month, they want to celebrate health by taking a longer walk to school.