WHEREAS, fewer children walk or bicycle to school than a generation ago; 42 percent of children walked or bicycled to school in 1969 compared with just 16 percent in 2001; and

        WHEREAS, children need 60 minutes of physical activity each day for health, and it takes five to ten minutes for children to walk a quarter mile or bicycle an entire mile; and

        WHEREAS, walking and biking to school is an easy way for children to get the physical activity they need each day; and

        WHEREAS, children who exercise regularly are better students and have a reduced risk of developing life-threatening illnesses like diabetes; and

        WHEREAS, fewer cars means fewer gas emissions, and cleaner air will improve respiratory systems of children with asthma; and

        WHEREAS, more children walking means fewer taxpayer dollars spent on school transportation and more money available for educating children; and

        WHEREAS, in 2005, more than 33,571 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms nationwide for pedestrian-related injuries; and

        WHEREAS, in recognition of International Walk to School Day 2007, children, parents, educators, community leaders, the Safe Kids Treasure Valley Coalition, FedEx employees, the Ada County Highway District, Boise School District, Federal Highway Administration and Idaho Transportation Department’s Safe Routes to School Program are joining forces to make walking and biking to school safe for all children;

        NOW, THEREFORE, I, C.L. “BUTCH” OTTER, Governor of the State of Idaho, do hereby proclaim October 3rd, 2007, to be

INTERNATIONAL WALK TO SCHOOL DAY

in Idaho.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Idaho at Boise, Idaho, on this 1st day of October in the year of our Lord two-thousand and seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred thirty-second and of the Statehood of Idaho the one hundred eighteenth.

BEN YSURSA
SECRETARY OF STATE