County's kids get out of parents' cars

<p>Bilingual aide Marthe Norwick spends her days helping elementary students at Santa Rosa's Kawana School navigate language arts and math concepts.</p><p>On Wednesday, she rode her bike seven miles from her home near Sonoma State University to Kawana's Moraga Avenue campus, hoping those same students would learn a different kind of lesson.</p><p>"I did it to let them know that we don't always drive our cars," she said, still sitting on her Gary Fisher mountain bike before the morning bell had rung.</p><p>Wednesday marked the 12th annual observance of the international Walk and Roll to School Day in which an estimated 4,000 students in Sonoma County opted out of their parents' cars and either walked or biked to school.</p><p>"This is the first time," said Kawana sixth-grader Paola Diaz of riding her bike to school. "It's cool."</p><p>She said her parents were particularly anxious.</p><p>"Yeah, because one time I fell and broke my arm -- on this bike," she said.</p><p>Organizers say the goal of Walk and Roll to School Day is multifaceted: reduce traffic and carbon emissions, save money on gas and encourage exercise among students who are more likely than ever to be overweight.</p><p>More than 16 percent of children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 -- more than 9 million kids -- are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number has tripled since 1980, according to the CDC.</p><p>Getting parents on board with letting kids ride or walk to school is usually harder than generating excitement among kids themselves, said Tina Panza, director of the Safe Routes to School program for the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, a co-sponsor of Wednesday's event.</p><p>"I don't expect parents to suddenly change their life and work or bike with their child every day, but if they can do it one day a week, it's great," she said. "It can be done. There are other options besides the parents driving straight to school."</p><p>At Sonoma's Woodland Star Charter School, parent organizer Rick Love gathered students and parents in nearby Ernie Smith Community Park on Arnold Drive, and they walked together to campus.</p><p>"It's just a way to get kids to know there are other ways to get around than being driven everywhere. Plus it's fun," he said.</p><p>But some schools, Woodland Charter included, face particular challenges to opting out of a car ride, he said.</p><p>"We are not a neighborhood school, we have people coming from all over town," he said.</p><p>Organizers said even walking or riding the last few blocks to school can get a student's blood pumping while reducing traffic around campus, making it safer for everybody.</p><p>"I would encourage parents to reach out to other parents" and create the equivalent of a walking car pool, said Laurel Green, physical education teacher at Windsor's Brooks Elementary School. "It's getting people outside, keeping an eye on their neighborhood. A lot of people meet each other for the first time at this event."</p><p>In Healdsburg, parents who participated Wednesday hope to make Walk and Roll to School a monthly activity, said parent Lissa Beard.</p><p>Kawana sixth-grader Yuliza Diaz rode alongside her first-grade sister, Areli, on Wednesday and said she enjoyed the freedom.</p><p>Sitting astride her older brother's hand-me-down silver-and-black dirt bike, the older Diaz said she was hooked.</p><p>"We're going to ride the whole year," she said, nodding at her bike. "But I'm going to paint it pink."</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.</p><p>com.</p>