October 3, 2007

'When I was principal, I walked 8 miles to school'
An Irvine principal walks to school from his Lake Forest home as a challenge for students to get fit.
By JORGE BARRIENTOS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Eight miles to go.

Principal Scott Bowman started his trek from his Lake Forest home under the starry dark sky this morning, joined by teachers and staffers from his middle school in Irvine.

It was a challenge that got Bowman out of his home at five in the morning, ready for school wearing a bright green Hawaiian-style shirt, a baseball cap and tennis shoes.

The challenge: walk the eight miles from home to Rancho San Joaquin Middle School in Irvine if enough students promised to walk or bike to school Wednesday as part of international Walk to School Day.

"The idea is to make fitness fun," the 52-year-old, 200-plus pound, first-year principal said.

Students around the world participated in the celebration, which promotes healthy living, safe walking and safe biking. This is the first year all schools in Irvine Unified participated in the annual event. The Irvine Public Schools Foundation sponsored the participation as a way to kick off its annual fund-raising campaign, which partly focuses on student health and education.

A main event took place at Northwood Community Park Wednesday morning with about 400 people from the community joining students and school staffers. Similar events took place around the county, including at Tustin Unified's Heideman Elementary, which focused on safe streets.

Joking most of the way during the walk, Bowman feigned trying to hop in cars stopping by, hugged a chilly street pole to cool off, and said the rest of the school day would be canceled after the long walk.

Four miles to go: Bowman cheered and gave high fives to his colleagues – including one dressed as Where's Waldo holding pompoms, and another wearing long red and white striped socks – who walked with him over freeways and through busy morning traffic for the sake of healthy living.

"Halfway!" he said, slapping hands with everyone.

Bowman is no stranger to physical education – he's been teaching it for 20-plus years. He started as a PE teacher at Rancho San Joaquin and taught for 19 years, developing a student workout program with weight training equipment and cardio machines.

For the past 12 years, he has also taught kinesiology at Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach. He frequently takes on the role of physical education consultant for other school districts, wanting to get kids in shape. His answer to problems, he said, usually is, "Make exercise fun."

The end: After two hours and 17 minutes, Bowman and the other walkers were met with cheers from other school staffers after crossing a makeshift finish line.

"What was I thinking?" Bowman joked, sweating through his Philadelphia Phillies cap.

Soon, students followed, walking and riding bikes to campus from both directions on Michelson Drive. Some who lived too far away to walk were dropped off near the school and walked the rest of the way.

Seventh-graders Eric Hsu and Joshua Liu were dropped off at a nearby Ralphs. They participated "just for fun," Liu said. They usually ride all the way because school is too far from their Quail Hill home, and it's not safe to walk, they said. But both plan to walk more to school.

"People need to stay fit these days," Liu said.

Science and health instructors Alison Linden and Nancy Driscoll told students that walking to school also helps the environment.

"It's healthy for us, and it's healthy for the planet," Linden said.

Bowman said students will see a video of his walk, and school staff will make it a point to tell students that staying fit by walking to school is not just a one day thing. And if the principal can do it, they can too.

"I'm not the tiniest person in the world," he said. "It just forces me to be a role model for the kids. And it's the little things, like the walk, they remember."

But when asked by a colleague why he decided to walk from his home, Bowman joked:

"I wanted to wear shorts today to school."

Walk to School Day

•Started in 1997 in Chicago and Los Angeles modeled after the United Kingdom's program.

•As much as 25 percent of morning rush-hour traffic can be school-related.

•In July 2005, Congress passed legislation that established a national Safe Routes to School program. The program dedicates $612 million, to 2009, to assist communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bicycle to school.

•In 2006, more than 5,000 schools in the United States participated in International Walk to School Day. About 4 million people from 40 countries participated

•Principal Scott Bowman's 8.23 mile walk took 2 hours and 17 minutes. He started at 5:45 a.m.

•Next year's Walk to School Day is Oct. 8.

Information: www.walktoschool-usa.org