safe kids walk this way grant report nashville community health and wellness … · 2007-09-08 ·...

SAFE KIDS WALK THIS WAY GRANT REPORT Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team

Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

SAFE KIDS Walk This Way Task Force Report Page 1

INTRODUCTION The Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team is pleased to provide this report to update the SAFE KIDS Walk This Way Pedestrian Safety Task Force grant awarded from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, FedEx Express, and supporting sponsor 3M. Our goal was to make tangible environmental modifications to a Nashville, Tennessee, neighborhood that would result in decreasing child pedestrian-related injuries and deaths. BACKGROUND Each year children, from infants to teenagers, are injured or killed, in pedestrian-related accidents. In fact, pedestrian accidents are second only to motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of unintentional injury deaths to children ages 5 to 14. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the rate of traffic-related pedestrian deaths among children age 14-and-under declined 49 percent from 1990 to 2000. During the same period, the 14-and-under child pedestrian injury rate decreased by 36 percent. Even with this decrease, in 1999 alone, 733 children age 14-and-under died as pedestrians. In 2000, nearly 44,600 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for pedestrian-related injuries. Nearly 73 percent of these deaths and 80 percent of these injuries were traffic-related. Children ages 9 or under have a 20 percent higher rate of pedestrian death than children ages 10 to 14. It is said that children under age 10 cannot understand the factors of car speed, distance, and time necessary to cross a street safely. Traffic-related deaths are much more common in the afternoon as children leave school and play outside. Other statistics important to note include male children account for nearly two-thirds childhood pedestrian deaths; and that black children are at disproportionately higher risk, with a pedestrian injury death rate more than twice that of white children. Much of the 1990s decline in child pedestrian death and injuries has been attributed to decreased exposure of child pedestrians to vehicular traffic, educational programming, increased law enforcement, and ongoing efforts to improve built pedestrian environments. There is strong belief by the National SAFE KIDS Campaign that child pedestrian deaths and injuries can be prevented. There is also a strong desire by the Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team to reduce pedestrian death and injury in Nashville and throughout Tennessee. NASHVILLE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS TEAM

The Metro Public Health Department of Nashville and Davidson County is the lead agency for the Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team (NCH&WT). The NCH&WT is a volunteer coalition that meets monthly and is made up of representatives from health care,


government agencies, non-profit organizations, community centers, businesses, advocacy groups, and concerned citizens.

The Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team seeks to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in our community by raising awareness of and encouraging participation in physical exercise. The NCH&WT promotes exercise as part of daily life for older adults, ordinary people, and children who do not regularly participate in sports activities.

The NCH&WT's vision is "Active People = Healthy People." Our mission is to "Promote wellness for all ages through physical activity." We provide leadership for our annual signature event, "Walk Nashville Week," which consists of Walk to School Day, Walk for Active Aging, Titans Fans Walk to the Game Day, and Walk Somewhere! Day.

GRANT REQUIREMENTS The National SAFE KIDS Campaign awarded $4,000 to the Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team to reduce child pedestrian injury and death in Nashville, Tennessee. More specifically, we were to focus our efforts on a known problem area where child pedestrians and vehicular traffic commonly intersect. As our annual event, Walk to School Day, has grown from 5 participating schools in 1999 to 38 in 2002, we focused our efforts on locating a Metro Nashville school where pedestrian safety needed improvement. The National SAFE KIDS Campaign set forth 5 criteria that we were to follow: 1. Establish a Task Force The first step in preparing to implement a SAFE KIDS Walk This Way Pedestrian Safety Task Force grant is, of course, to bring together a Task Force. We began to create our Task Force through our Community Health and Wellness Team membership. We pulled in members of the local and state health departments as well as concerned citizens and organizations. Then, we invited members of the Metro Public Works and Metro Police Departments to participate. We were able to gain support from both Federal Express and 3M employees. Our Task Force was completed as follows:


SAFE KIDS Task Force Members Last updated 5-24-2002

Nancy Nace, MHD Facilitator Ph: 615-340-2124

David Borowski, Chair TN State Dept of Health 4th Floor, Cordell Hull Bldg. 425 5th Avenue North Nashville TN 37247 Phone: 615-741-7247 [email protected]

Lt. Coleman Beard Metro Police Dept 3701 James Kay Lane Nashville TN 37076 Ph: 880-3064 Fax: 880-3059 [email protected]

Carolyn Cox Federal Express [email protected]

Susan Helms, SAFE KIDS 1407 Union Ave, 15th Floor Memphis TN 38014 Ph: 901-729-3451 [email protected]

Jeff Campbell Metro Public Works 720 South 5th Street Nashville TN 37206 Ph: 862-8777 ext.735 Fax: 862-5568 [email protected]

David Kleinfelter, Walk/Bike Nashville Metro Planning Dept 730 2nd Ave S Nashville TN 37201 Ph: 862-7210 [email protected]

Tracy Campbell Concerned Citizen 211 Lauderdale Rd. Nashville TN 37205 Ph: 297-2611 Fax: 385-3578 [email protected]

Mark McKinley, 3M PO Box 1240 Fax: 385-3578 Cookeville TN 38503 Ph: 931-528-7912 [email protected]

Laurel Creech Team Green, Physical Activity Initiative 401 Church St; L&C Tower, 30th Floor Nashville TN 37219 Ph: 242-5600 Fax: 242-9877 [email protected]

Jacque Pillow Tying Nashville Together 1606 12th Ave N Nashville TN 37208 Ph: 322-2934 [email protected]

Melissa Garcia Metro Health Dept. Epidemiology 311 23rd Ave. N Nashville TN 37201 Ph: 340-2137 Fax: 340-2110 [email protected]

Linda Shelton TN Council on Physical Fitness/Health 426 5th Ave N Nashville TN 37247 Ph: 741-1024 [email protected]

Gail Hardin Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center 691 Preston Bldg. Nashville TN 37232-6838 Ph: 936-5885 Fax: 936-5879 [email protected]

Nancy Nace Metro Health Dept. Health Promotion 311 23rd Ave. N Nashville TN 3 Ph: 615-340-2124 Fax: 615-340-2110 [email protected]

* Note contacts were last updated on 5/24/2002 and therefore may no longer be accurate. *

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2. Identify the Hazardous Conditions and Needed Improvements Once we had established our people power, we were tasked with determining exactly where in Nashville, Tennessee, we had dangerous conditions for child pedestrians. We focused our investigation around Metro Nashville schools. The Task Force communicated with the Metro Police Department to gain access to death and injury data for pedestrians at street intersections. We understood, at that time, the system for tracking such statistics was not streamlined, nor robust. Therefore, we were only able to gather the locations of intersections where a total of 4 and 5 crashes occurred in the past few recent, recorded years. Through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS), the intersections were plotted that were located within 1 mile of a Metro Nashville Public School building. When investigating intersections with 5 crashes, we discovered that Napier School and Hume-Fogg High School were within 1 mile of a 5-crash intersection. We had little knowledge or past communication with Napier or Hume-Fogg. Realistically, Hume-Fogg would have been a fantastic choice of sites. It is located on one of Downtown Nashville’s busiest, widest roads. An area of constant traffic – and teenagers. Who were one reason why we overlooked Hume-Fogg for this particular project. Hume-Fogg is a high school and falls outside the at-risk 14-and-under age criteria we were working within. The area around Hume-Fogg has not gone unnoticed though; the Metro Planning, Police, and Public Works Departments are well aware of the pedestrian and traffic-related issues.


We had a similar occurrence when looking at 4-accident intersections within 1 mile of a school. Hillsboro High School, located on a major west Nashville to southwest Nashville thoroughfare and located across the street from a major shopping mall, stood out on our map. With our problematic high schools, we understood that teenagers would be more likely to take chances and more difficult to build good safety habits within. We knew that our grant, however beneficial, would not be able to solve a multi-lane, constant traffic issue. Martin Luther King, Jr. High School also appeared in our 4-accident intersection area. We knew that many high school students are bused, driven, or drive to school. We decided to start our school search again, reinvestigating our accident maps with an emphasis on elementary school students who were more likely to walk to and from neighborhood schools. Then it happened. We located an intersection that did not have as many accidents associated with it, but rather an intersection that had two schools neighboring each other. The schools were Cora Howe Elementary School and Bailey Middle School. Upon review of our Walk to School Day records, we recalled that both schools had participated in our events in past years. We then considered the number of students who walk to each school. As the schools are located within old neighborhoods in east Nashville, it was not surprising that many students walked to each school. The Cora Howe/Bailey site just kept looking better-and-better. We were told that while Cora Howe has been in use for many years, Bailey School was closed and just one school year prior remodeled and reopened. This meant that while Cora Howe had established school zones, Bailey did not. As our Task Force members discussed our selection of a school site, we realized that our limited grant funds would, in effect, go twice as far at the Cora Howe/Bailey site, for what we did for one school would be done for the other. If we posted pedestrian crossing signs, both the elementary and middle school students would benefit. If we added crosswalks between Cora Howe Elementary School and Bailey Middle School, all students would benefit.


Cora Howe Elementary and Bailey Middle Schools Once we selected our schools, we began investigating the local conditions that could affect child pedestrian safety. In the above map, the schools are located at the intersection of Scott Avenue, which runs nearly north and south, and Greenwood Avenue, which runs nearly east to west. The intersection is noted by the red dot. Cora Howe is the triple-circle-shaped building and Bailey is the almost C-shaped building, both located in the center of this map. Several important items can be gleaned from the illustration. First, the railroad track. Noted by the crossed line, the railroad track is still in frequent use. In determining which children attend which neighborhood school, the railroad track was used as a school boundary. No students should have to cross the railroad tracks to walk to school. The peach and yellow coloration shows this boundary well. Needless to say, our Pedestrian Safety Task Force was relieved to know the railroad tracks would not be a main concern. The map also details property lines and the footprints for many buildings, mostly houses and apartments. Note the apartment complex on the north side of Greenwood Avenue, just north of Cora Howe. Also, note the large-sized lots the schools occupy and the large number of neighborhood homes in this east Nashville area.


Local school zoning does not provide bus service to students living close to schools. Therefore, each school had several hundred students that were listed as school walkers. The students attending Cora Howe were in grades kindergarten through fourth grade. Bailey has students in grades five through eight. Many families have children attending both schools. Students with African American, Caucasian, Hispanic, and other nationalities attend the schools. Overall, the student mix at the schools encouraged our Task Force to be thorough in our improvement efforts. We realized that to best understand the pedestrian safety issues at Cora Howe and Bailey, we would have to gather our Pedestrian Safety Task Force at the schools. In doing this, we had several benefits including: meeting face-to-face with our Task Force, getting to better know one another, meeting the schools’ principals, listening to local stories of safety issues, and sharing a nutritious lunch. Most importantly, we actually walked in the vicinity of the schools following the footsteps of their students with eyes wide open, cameras, and notebooks. After exploring we sat down to record our eye witness pedestrian safety issues and rank order the issues in priority of needing to be changed. A star (*) indicates a vote for the most important pedestrian safety issue. The meeting was thorough and efficient. The minutes from the discussion follow, adapted into a more paragraph reading friendly format:

SAFE KIDS Task Force Meeting Minutes

Thursday, July 25, 2002 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM Bailey Middle School Nashville Tennessee

Present: Lt. Coleman Beard, Metro Police Dept; Jeff Campbell, Metro Public Works; Carolyn Cox, Fed Ex; Melissa Garcia, MPHD Epidemiologist; Laurel

Creech, Chair, Community Health and Wellness Team; Lueatrice Lovett, Principal, Cora Howe Elem; Lou Ann Landrum, Principal, Bailey Middle School; Darcy Hobson, Asst. Principal, Bailey Middle School; Nancy Nace, MPHD Facilitator; David Borowski, Environmental Specialist TN Dept Health, Chair, SKTF. Metro Councilman Earl Campbell was not able to attend, but expressed interest, support, and future involvement. David B. facilitated. Introductions were made, and tasks defined: 1. To identify possible safety issues for children walking to both schools 2. To rank those identified problems in order of priority. Metro Planning had made some great maps, which were reviewed by our Pedestrian Safety Task Force. We discussed possible problems to look for, then broke up into 2 groups, and walked around the schools to observe and take notes. Upon return, the problems witnessed were listed and prioritized under Obstructions, Signage, Streets, and School Property issues. Stars (*) indicate ranking of importance.


***Obstructions: • • •

•

***Broken glass on the sidewalks Weeds/grass growing over sidewalks Brush constricting sidewalk width.

Poles in sidewalks (In this photo, a fallen cable television line also blocked safe use of this sidewalk.)

•

Guy wire anchor in sidewalks, with no guy wires attached

•

Sidewalk holding water at gas station


*****Signage: • •

•

•

• • •

• • • • • •

•

•

Need stop signs at Scott and Greenwood The flashing light in front of Bailey should be moved further back down Greenwood, to give earlier warning to drivers of the presence of a school

Trees block view of signs

General lack of signage

***Streets:

Crosswalks in need of new paint Crossing at railroad unsafe for pedestrians, not marked (?) Cars speed and do not stop at stop signs

•

Alley way overgrown, unsafe

School Property: Grass badly overgrown ****No obvious fire lane in from of Bailey Middle School Parking in front of schools leaves no safe place for pedestrian traffic ***Children must walk across drop-off traffic in order to enter front of school Garbage adjacent to school fence **Need a legitimate entrance into both schools from back. Children could walk into back property, with cleared brush and additional short sidewalks, and gate in back fence. (A path has been made and a hole in fence in back of Cora Howe, (at Manchester) a natural entrance from the neighborhood.) A suggestion was made to put a few benches on the Cora Howe playground, for use by the neighborhood. Also, suggested some pedestrian gates be put in the fence for the neighborhood.

Other problems noted: ***A neighbor talked to some TF members, and pointed out the need for a neighborhood watch.

•

Children walk to Hobson UMC for tutoring every afternoon, and there are no sidewalks at Hobson

Both walking groups compiled extensive lists of problems observed and encountered on the walks. Each group commented how useful the experiential element was to evaluation. A box lunch was provided by the Metro Public Health Dept. Next Steps: Jeff C. said Public Works would investigate the signage and road markings around the school zones. It was suggested that some signage may have been from when only Cora Howe was active and now that Bailey is being used again the signage needs to be at least moved and number likely increased. Jeff said that normal Public Works operating costs would likely cover most of their improvements.


Any signs or markings on the school grounds would be the responsibility of the school system. No objections were made to the suggestion of using grant funds to help pay costs associated with signs or paint markings on school grounds. Following the realization that many items on the problem list could be solved by citizens taking small actions, suggestion was made via a short group discussion to hold a public forum that would benefit student, administration, parent and neighbor alike. After completion of the problem list brainstorming and prioritization of issues, the meeting was adjourned. Minutes were to be compiled and distributed via email. The prioritized items were to be reviewed by the chairperson to determine which actions could be done quickly and inexpensively. Future meetings could be called to work out details for addressing priority issues if need be. A goal timeline was set to have changes in place by the October 2, Walk to School Day. 3. Create and Implement a plan Once our Pedestrian Safety Task Force met and compiled a list of priorities, individuals took to task seeking out how feasible changes would be and encouraging their workplaces to pitch in. Quickly, Metro Public Works assigned a work crew to address some of the road-related issues. One major issue was that Bailey School was closed for many years. Only after recent renovations was the school building put back into use. Therefore, the existing school zone speed limit signs were posted for nearby Cora Howe. As seen in this illustration, the Cora Howe school zone ended in Bailey’s front yard. Metro Public Works responded and reconfigured the school zone speed limit signs to incorporate both schools.


To gain attention and support for our project, we attempted to meet with parents and students outside of the school day. We were invited to participate in the Bailey Middle School open

house as the new 2002 school year began. We set up a table display with brochures, flyers, and photos. Our poster-sized sidewalk location maps were a great backdrop for our display. We spoke with parents, students, and teachers during the open house. We asked them about pedestrian safety concerns they had at or near by the school. We gained valuable insight into the local community while advertising for our fourth annual Walk to School Day.

After our initial success in making physical changes to the site and starting to education the students, parents, and faculty on pedestrian safety, we spent an afternoon at the schools and took pictures as the children left for home via bus, bike, car, or sneaker. Our observations helped us to determine normal pedestrian paths; some that could be made safer. We also took time to chat with the two crossing guards who are stationed near the schools. They had valuable insight working to protect the children from traffic each morning and afternoon.

Next, we drafted a memo to the Metro Public Works asking for their assistance in purchasing the items we saw as needed for improvement. Items like crosswalk paint, reflective pedestrian crossing signs, additional flashing lights, new visible traffic cones for the two crossing guards, and perhaps even some additional concrete in places.


A crossing guard told us that she had the same traffic cones she started her job with many years ago. She continued saying how worn out the cones had become. We asked Public Works how much it would cost for us to provide the crossing guards with new bright-colored cones.

We watched as many students crossed Scott Street, shown here, from Bailey School to Cora Howe. Students were walking to parents’ cars, walking home, or just playing around. Regardless, we saw need for crosswalks over the driveway and over the street.

We also made some suggestions on issues that Metro Public Works or Metro Schools would routinely handle. Items that were simply overlooked or had gone unnoticed, yet changes that would lead to meaningful improvements in child safety around the schools.


We asked that trash piled amidst the overgrown bushes just south of Bailey School be removed. We asked that the bushes be trimmed to increase visibility and the chain-link fence row be repaired to maintain a barrier between children and traffic.

We discovered a portion of fence that was intentionally damaged (now repaired) to pass from the local neighbourhood into the Cora Howe Schoolyard. We talked with the principal about installing a true gate to allow the children access to the schoolyard without having to walk around the long way, alongside the street.

4. Measure the Effectiveness of the Modifications Perhaps our most obvious changes came to traffic control within the school zone surrounding Bailey and Cora Howe. Working through our department of Public Works, we achieved three major physical traffic control improvements: 1. 10 new lime-green school and pedestrian signs were added to roadsides 2. New white reflective material was added to fading crosswalks 3. An old concrete road divider was rebuilt to an ADA compliant pedestrian refuge


Some modifications we helped to create are difficult to measure success from numerically. For example, here is the new end school zone speed limit sign that was posted beyond the Bailey Middle School grounds that had previously been in their front yard. The sign was installed with a new ADA prescribed corner sidewalk. This change will help to reduce automobile speeds in the school zone. This change will help students have a safe sidewalk to walk on and use to cross the street. This modification had been overlooked at Bailey in its first year as a renovated building. Although not measurable, we believe that this change will be a key to our success in establishing a zone safer for child pedestrians. Another change that may not have a numerical resultant, yet was critically important was the front entrance and driveway into Bailey Middle School. The renovation left a semicircular drive bordered by sidewalk and parking spaces in front of the most used doorway and footpaths. When we started this project there was no crosswalk near the entrance. After the Walk to School Day, a bright yellow crosswalk was noticeably added.

Above: Bailey Middle School main entrance before Walk to School Day. Right: Bailey Middle School after Walk to School Day; notice the newly painted crosswalk.


5. Generate Media Attention The Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team has maintained an annual Walk Nashville Week since 1999. In 2002, as in past years, our efforts lead to numerous newspaper articles and several television news segments. Our biggest Walk Nashville Week event is Walk to School Day. On October 2, 2002, thirty-eight (38) Nashville schools participated in our fourth annual Walk to School Day. During the event students, teachers, parents, and community members share in learning about pedestrian safety, the benefits of physical activity, nutrition, their neighbourhood environment, and much more. Our two chosen schools, Cora Howe Elementary and Bailey Middle, both organized special events and continued their annual participation of Walk to School Day. Through the grant process and working with each school’s physical education teacher, quite a crowd turned out for the special event.

Growth of Walk to School Day in Nashville

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Cora Howe began their Walk to School at 7:30 AM on the crisp morning of October 2, 2002. Students, parents, and school faculty met at Hobson United Methodist Church and then became a line of walkers. Students were given bright pink reflective stickers to wear. Parents or guardians were given reflective tags that read, “I walked a child to school today.”

Once at Cora Howe, the students lined up for class as per their normal procedure. The parents were invited into the school on this special day, too. The parents were treated to donuts and juice, a reward for completing a short survey describing positives and negatives they encountered along the walking route. Thirteen surveys were completed. Here are some of their comments:

• Douglas Ave - unleashed dogs • Gallatin Rd - need pedestrian crossing • Scott & Greenwood - sidewalks blocked, traffic too fast, generally unsafe • Greenwood & Porter Rd - need crosswalks • Chapel & Greenwood -road too wide to cross safely; sidewalks broken, missing,

and blocked


Bailey Middle School organized their Walk to School Day in a similar manner. They met at the same church parking lot at 8:00 AM and then walked to school as a large group of united students, parents, and faculty. Several students created their own Walk to School Day style with by riding bicycles and even twirling a baton. Bailey, with its middle school talent added a pep band split to either side of its main sidewalk to greet incoming walkers. The school football team and cheerleaders were both in uniform as part of the morning festivities. Faculty distributed cereal snacks and fruit juice for breakfast as the walkers arrived at school. Finally, all enjoyed a photo opportunity for Bailey’s second Walk to School Day taken for the school yearbook.

Parents returned eight surveys commenting on walking conditions, some comments were:

• Rosebank Ave - sidewalks too narrow, need traffic lights and signals, drivers do not stop at signs, too much traffic

• Straightway Ave - sidewalks missing in parts, loitering people • Greenwood & Chapel - sidewalks missing, broken, blocked, road too wide to

cross safely, traffic too fast, drivers do not obey signals, too much traffic, loitering people, unleashed dogs


Above: During Walk to School Day, students gathered in front of Bailey Middle School, with their Safe Kids funded banner, for a yearbook photo. Right: Metro School Board member Patricia Crotwell and Earl Campbell of the Metro Council, with Bailey Assistant Principal Darcy Hobson, posed for a photo at Bailey.

On December 31, 2002, as if making a New Year’s resolution, Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell signed an Executive Order creating the Healthy Nashville Leadership Council. The new group would be charged with making Nashville a healthier city through improving community health. Mayor Purcell said, “A healthy city is a city that is more productive and

more attractive to businesses and visitors alike.” The NCH&WT was invited to the press conference. Long-time NCH&WT member, former Nashville Metro Councilperson, and current Metro Planning Department employee, David Kleinfelter, spoke on our behalf. Sometimes changes seem small, one-at-a-time, and sometimes the changes are fast-paced and monumental. This Executive Order was big enough to attract the attention of two television stations, the regional newspaper, and about forty participants.


Safe Kids Task Force Media Day On Thursday, October 4, 2003, a special Walk to School Day was held at Bailey Middle and Cora Howe Elementary Schools. Our Safe Kids Task Force teamed with the Mayor’s Office of Youth Development to present our pedestrian safety improvements to the Nashville community.

As part of the Safe Kids Task Force Media Day, students from both Bailey Middle and Cora Howe Elementary Schools gathered to walk to school. A special assembly was held with the students, school officials, government representatives, and both print and TV media.

During the event, we presented the two crossing guards who are responsible for the safety of children each day, whether rain, shine, or snow, new stop paddles and traffic cones. Each crossing guard had a small wooden stop paddle and faded yellow and black traffic cones. We improved their equipment tremendously. First, we provided them an electronic LED stop paddle kit. Each kit contained a larger stop paddle with built in red LED lights. The paddle has a built-in rechargeable battery to power the lights that can remain steady or blink. The crossing guards agreed with us that these new paddles would increase their visibility in adverse weather conditions. Next, we provided new cones. Not only were our cones larger, brighter-orange, and banded with reflective material, the cones actually weighed less than the old cones. This delighted the crossing guards who have to carry, place, pickup and carry, place, and pickup again up to four cones twice daily.


Also, just in time for our event. Construction was completed on the new pedestrian refuge. The intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Chapel Avenue changed from a four-way stop with a concrete barrier to a four-way stop with a safety oasis. Designed for use by pedestrians whether on foot, bike, skate, or in wheeled chair the refuge received praise from the crossing guards.

The pedestrian refuge: before, during, and after construction. The pedestrian safety upgrade cost about $2,000 in materials and contractor labor after the Metro Planning Department engineered the improvements.

Our assembly included many dignitaries including: Nashville’s Mayor, school principals, a Metro Public Health Department representative, and a local Safe Kids representative. Other attendees were our 3M contact, Metro Public Works, Metro Police, community members, and several other citywide partners. During the assembly, school safety issues were the primary focus. The construction of new sidewalks around Nashville schools received applause. Several of the remarks were broadcast on the evening television news sending our message all over town.


Above: School walkers gathered for the event. Above right: Nashville Mayor, Bill Purcell, described his vision for school safety. Right: Nancy Nace, Health & Wellness Team Facilitator, encouraged the children.

Our Pedestrian Safety Task Force was charged with reducing child pedestrian-related injury. With our diverse careers, skills, and resources we achieved a series of victories that when summed together created measurable improvements for the students of Cora Howe and Bailey schools. We hope that our Safe Kids Walk This Way achievement will be a blueprint for successfully improving school safety in Nashville, throughout Tennessee, and wherever children walk to school. Walk on…


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Nashville Community Health and Wellness Team would like to thank those individuals, companies, and agencies that helped to make our efforts at Bailey Middle School and Cora

Howe Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee, a success.

The National Safe Kids Campaign FedEx Express

3M L.L.Bean

Cora Howe Elementary School

Bailey Middle School

Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County Metro Public Health Department Metro Nashville Public Schools

Metro Police Department Metro Department of Planning

Metro Department of Public Works Mayor’s Office of Youth Development

State of Tennessee Department of Health

Tennessee Council on Physical Fitness/Health

Lightning 100 Radio Team Green

Walk/Bike Nashville

Tying Nashville Together (TNT)

Vanderbilt University Ingram Cancer Center

safe kids walk this way grant report nashville community health and wellness … · 2007-09-08 ·...

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