Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho - It's Back to School We Go!

Fernando Martinez and Joyce Cunningham, Safe Routes to School Local Outreach Coordinators for Texas Bicycle Coalition have been busy working on school campuses in recent weeks. Olsen Park, Avondale and Forest Hill elementary schools in Amarillo were the sites of Traffic and Hand Counts and Environmental Surveys. The counts and surveys are part of the evaluation that will help determine the effectiveness of the Safe Routes program.

The Girl Scouts treated Texas Bicycle Coalition Local Outreach Coordinators Fernando Martinez and Joyce Cunningham to the "Ritz" on Saturday, November 5, 2005. The "Ritz" cabin at Amarillo Girl Scouts Camp Kawanis was the site for Bicycle Maintenance and Safety classes. Fifty girls from different local troops participated in the 2005 Junior Jamboree to learn more about archery, tennis and bicycle maintenance and safety.

The City of Amarillo is working with Texas Bicycle Coalition to develop a flyer on the proper use of the recent addition of bike lanes in southwest Amarillo. City Traffic Engineers have striped lanes, installed signs and put down emblems to identify these new lanes. Community bicyclists and motorists are asking the City for guidelines on the proper use of bike lanes.

Mann Middle School hosted a Health Fair on October 26, 2005, for more than 450 seventh and eigth graders in conjunction with Amarillo's Red Ribbon Week activities. Texas Bicycle Coalition staff members were able to provide bicycle safety support for the Fair.

The Community Coalition for Prevention, Intervention and Treatment used this "Celebrate Me! I'm Drug Free!" Health Fair to present eight Developmental Assets to the students. Support Empowerment, Boundaries & Expectations, Constructive Use of Time, Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies and Positive Identity were the human development areas communicated.

Red Ribbon Week annually honors Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Enrique Camarena who was murdered in 1985 by drug traffickers while investigating a major drug cartel in Mexico. In 1988, Camarena's family and friends began wearing red satin ribbons in his memory. Now the red ribbon is a symbol of a drug-free community.