Kids taking to the streets during a 2018 Walk to School event by Jeffrey MacMillan licensed under Creative Commons.

The announcement this week by DC Public Schools officials that some elementary school students would be eligible to return to in-person schooling in early November brought the important connections between education and social justice to the forefront. And with calls for social justice reverberating throughout the summer, some are using Walk to School Day this Wednesday to address both safety for kids traveling to school, and offer a moment to push back against systemic injustice.

Participants in Ward 6 will undertake a “Good Trouble Walk” around Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill, seeking to honor the memory of Representative and civil rights icon John Lewis, accompanied by remote activities if you can’t make the walk.

The focus of Walk to School Day is still about making it safe to walk or bike or stroll to school. Walking or rolling to school is good for your health and mental well-being, and it’s good for the environment. Yet many parts of DC still lack safe biking routes, and many students are traveling far from their homes to go to school.

Rep. John Lewis, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6). Image by Sandra Moscoso licensed under Creative Commons.

Walk to School Day, which held its first national event in 1997, has since galvanized thousands of participants each year, and continues to cast a spotlight on children’s safety and each year.

As President and Secretary of Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization (W6PSPO), we helped to organize many Walk-to-School Day events that involved speakers, cheerleader and step team performances, food giveaways, and large groups walking together to school.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that most schools in DC are operating on an all virtual on an online-only basis. DC’s Mayor Muriel Bowser only recently announced a very limitedreturn to school in October, and November.

This year we had to be flexible and creative to reach for similar goals as in years past, and look for hope where we could find it.

Students at a Walk to School Day event. Image by Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization licensed under Creative Commons.

National organizers at the National Center for Safe Routes to School had acknowledged Walk-to-School Day wouldn’t be like previous years. At both the national and local level we recognized it was possible to offer a safely distanced opportunity for emotional and physical well-being.

We agree there’s no better source of hope for us than the life of civil rights leader, John Lewis, who spoke at a 2017 Walk to School Day event and often cited walking as a motif in his quest for justice.

Inspired by his lifelong message of “good trouble” and voter rights, we connected with the League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia, who will be doing in-person voter registration (with masks and plenty of hand sanitizer).

People can also sign a “Good Trouble Pledge,” and it is starting to look like an event that can safely bring families together, either in person, or virtually (via social media #GoodTroubleWalk), and contribute to some much-needed community connection and emotional well-being.

Participants at a Walk to School Day event.  Image by Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization licensed under Creative Commons.

Walk to School Day brings the community together to raise awareness about the importance of safe routes, and the W6SPSO believes that key to this is to support by-right, neighborhood schools that students and families can walk or bike to easily.

The pandemic revealed challenges in our system

The pandemic has brought critical deficiencies in infrastructure to light. A DC (and US) “bike boom” and increased use of share services (link) reflect increased biking, scooting, and active transportation activity. According to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), 59% of students use Kids Ride Free cards. With a DCPS ‘hybrid’ learning model looming, what happens when families who have to rely on public transit don’t feel safe on Metro or Metrobus?

How do families from communities with the longest commutes manage without reliable “safe routes” infrastructure along the way? How does this affect student mobility and enrollment in by-right, neighborhood schools (which is heavily impacted by geography)?

There is much work to do in advocating for safe routes. This is the kind of “Good Trouble” we encourage you to get into. Wherever you live, you can start by joining us on Walk to School Day.

Have you participated in a memorable Walk to School Day? Have ideas about how it can be a catalyst for safe and just routes to school? Tell us in the comments!

Sandra Moscoso is an international development consultant supporting government, private sector and NGOs in strengthening institutional and data transparency. A board member of the D.C. Open Government Coalition, School Without Walls HSA, and Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization. Sandra lives in Capitol Hill with her husband and two children.

Suzanne Wells is the founder and president of the Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization.  She helped organize the first Walk-to-School Day on Capitol Hill in 2001, and has been helping organize it ever since.