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M I N U T E S Safe Routes to School Committee Meeting November 12, 2013 3:30 P.M. The Safe Routes to School Committee met during a regular meeting on November 12, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. at Apache Elementary School, 700 West Apache, Farmington, New Mexico. Present: Coordinator: Anngela Wakan MPO & City of Farmington Staff Joe Delmagori June Markle Attendees: Leslie Nord, McKinley Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by Anngela Wakan and the following proceedings were duly had and taken. Mr. Delmagori moved to approve the minutes from the October 10, 2013 meeting. Ms. Markle seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. REPORTS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS Apache Apache Elementary has begun participating in the Walk Across America program and has already begun punching cards for students. They decided to allow their students to earn points during recess time since most do not walk to school. Mrs. Wakan has delivered charms and Frisbees to the school. Ladera Ladera recently completed their Walk Across America promotion for the fall after running it for one month. The PE teacher, Ms. Wallace, wanted to keep the program fresh and interesting for the students, so they opted to run the program for only one month. They are considering running it again in the spring. They had 64 students who earned Frisbees after walking to school at least 20 times. McKinley Mrs. Wakan said that McKinley has not yet started their Walk Across America program. They have received the punch cards, but they still need their punches. Ms. Nord said that McKinley is considering waiting to start the program until the spring when the weather warms up. Mrs. Wakan said she had purchased some penguin charms for those students who do walk during the cold weather months. Mrs. Wakan said the walking school bus that walks every morning and travels about one-quarter of a mile is doing very well. The walking school bus that operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and traveled a much longer distance has stopped for the winter, but plans to pick up again in the spring. ---PAGE BREAK--- Mesa Verde Mesa Verde has begun their participation in the Walk Across America program and has approximately ten students who are working on earning a Frisbee. Mrs. Wakan reported that the parent leader for the Tuesday walking school bus had only her child and one other. She has opted to start up again in the spring when she hopes to encourage more students to join the walking school bus. The parent leader for the Friday walking school bus had to drop out because it no longer fit with her schedule. Mr. Delmagori said that Mr. Treat has mentioned that he knows several active parents who might consider taking on a walking school bus. Mrs. Wakan said she would contact Mr. Treat. The safety vests were received for use by the walking school bus leaders. UPCOMING EVENTS Turkey Trot Mrs. Wakan has spoken to the student leadership at both Ladera and Mesa Verde about participating in the Turkey Trot on November 23. Many of the students said that because it was on a Saturday, they would probably not be participating. Mrs. Wakan spoke with the organizers of the Turkey Trot to see if SRTS volunteers could help out with anything. She was told that SRTS members could help out the day of the race along the course and help encourage participation. Organizers are hoping to have at least 400 participants. The Committee members chose two student turkey drawings that Mrs. Wakan will use to make Turkey Trot flyers and distribute to the schools to encourage student and parent participation. Mrs. Wakan said that there would be a SRTS table with carnival games set up at Orchard Park. The Committee members discussed possibly having some prizes to award to students who participate in the race scooter, gift card, sports set). There are no SRTS funds currently available to purchase prizes, however, so it was decided to award a “golden sneaker” to the SRTS school with the most runners and walkers in the race. Students can enter their name into the drawing for the golden sneaker either before or after the race at the SRTS table. Mrs. Wakan has turkey charms for SRTS students who participate in the Turkey Trot. Christmas Parade Mrs. Wakan said the Christmas parade is on Thursday night, December 5. She said that last year, SRTS had approximately 20 Mesa Verde students, parents, and teachers who walked in the parade and handed out stickers and prizes. Mrs. Wakan said she would see if Mesa Verde was interested in participating again this year. Mrs. Wakan will ask Mr. Krest to get SRTS registered for the parade. ---PAGE BREAK--- Parent Surveys Mrs. Wakan has received about 70-100 parental surveys from each of the SRTS schools. The surveys will now be sent to a company who will compile the responses. ENGINEERING: Mr. Krest was not present at the meeting. ENFORCEMENT: Officer DeLese was not present at the meeting. EVALUATION: Mr. Delmagori had nothing to report from the MPO. He said he hoped the Committee could have some updates on the SRTS projects given at the December meeting. There were no additional concerns or topics for discussion. The next meeting will be on Thursday, December 12 at 3:30 p.m. at Ladera Elementary. There will be no meeting in January. The meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m.