Klager teacher Kathy O’Mara with her huge group of National Walk to School Day participants last week.

Between 85-90 kids, parents, community members, and Klager staff participated in National Walk to School Day last Wednesday, October 4. It was a great turnout despite many logistical challenges for the staff coordinating this year’s walking program.

Kathy O’Mara has headed up this program for four years, and is always eager to  find new ways to get more kids out Moo-ving and walking to school for their health. With tighter scheduling this year, it has not been possible to get students off the bus at the high school in time to walk them to Klager, which has greatly added to the walking population in past years.

Having so many participants on Wednesday was “a great way to start the morning,” she said. “It was a beautiful sight … I am still trying to come down off my high.”

Klager kids, community members, teachers, parents, village manager, village president, village council members, local clergy, and personnel from the 5 Healthy Towns coalition.

“We had a lot of first timers, so hopefully they had a good time and will join in on the fun more often.”

Walkers meet at Wurster Park (Gazebo) and at the rock by the old middle school at 7:30 am on Moo-ving Mondays and Walk to School Wednesdays. They meet up at Chi-Bro Park on Ann Arbor Hill and are joined by more walkers who start there at 7:45 to finish the walk to Klager Elementary School. Some mornings, we’ve also had high school students participate!

Everyone is welcome to participate. We walk rain or shine!

A huge banner carried by a group of students led off the group of walkers last week!

It’s true that “It takes a village,” and these community members are part of the wider village helpers who joined the walking group last week.