MSU athletes join students in walk to school event

LANSING — Current and former Michigan State University athletes accompanied Lansing students this morning to highlight the benefits of walking to school.

Students from Lansing Magnet STEM Academy and Lewton Elementary were joined in the morning walk by current MSU basketball player Denzel Valentine, former MSU running back Todd “TJ” Duckett as well as Brittany Holmes and Haley Sedgewick from the women’s gymnastics team.

The event coincided with International Walk to School Day, which aims to make walking and biking to school widely accepted among students and parents. Organizers also tout the importance of students getting enough exercise during their younger years.

Duckett spoke fondly of his days walking to elementary school and the relationships that formed during the treks to and from school.

“When you start walking to school, it’s like you're walking in the world for the first time,” he said. “It started as just walking and turned into meeting classmates and forming friendships.”

Generating wider acceptance of walking to school involves both students parents, said event organizer Kelly Botwinski.

“Having students walk to school lets people know our communities are safe and reminds people to keep an eye out for kids,” she said. The Lansing School District has done a great job in establishing walkable communities for many of its buildings, Botwinski added, including at the STEM academy and Lewton. The walk between the two school is less than half a mile and takes roughly 12 minutes, she said.

Fresh off the start of the start of practice for the MSU men’s basketball team, Valentine snapped photos and talked with students prior to the start of the walk. He remembered starting at the academy, then known as Dwight Rich Middle School, in seventh grade and walking to and from school much of the time.

He said he hopes students follow the path of previous graduates in supporting and giving back to Lansing schools.

Encouraging students to walk to school also has added health benefits, said volunteer Kristy Seibold. Lewton and the STEM academy were among five schools within the Lansing School District to receive a federal grant to increase the amount of physical activity students get on a daily basis.

This week was key for the district, she said, as about 6,500 students were outfitted with pedometers to gauge student’s activity. The goal was to get about 9,100 steps per day, and walking to and from school could make a significant dent in that number, she added.

Students in the Laingsburg School District also celebrated Walk to School Day earlier this morning in a joint event with the city of Laingsburg. New sidewalks on city streets aimed at creating safer routes to school were financed in part by a $500,000 Safe Routes to Schools grant in 2013.

In East Lansing, students came in ones and twos or in whole groups from neighborhoods like Southeast Marble and Walnut Heights, walking toward Marble Elementary School for Walk to School Day.

Ginger Ogilvie, coordinator for the Marble Parent Council’s Wellness Committee, said she believes it’s the seventh year Marble has taken part in the international event for schools to celebrate fitness and community walkability.

“It is pretty cool to think about children from all over the state, the nation and the world walking together,” Ogilvie said.

It’s also the first year the school is using a neighborhood-based format, in which students from the same neighborhood walk together.

“We are pretty excited about it,” Ogilvie said of the change. “I loved seeing all of the kids and families streaming in from their different neighborhoods.”

Marble physical education teacher Casey Bain was among staff greeting the children as they walked to the school at the intersection of Hagadorn Road and Burcham Drive. Bain had a second purpose, asking the children whether they wanted to join her on a “Wellness Walk” around the building.

One youngster she asked responded, “I’m already on one!”

Dawn Parker contributed to this report.Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 orrwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter@wolcottr.