It may seem Safe Routes to School slows down in the summer because school is out. But, summer often brings movement on Safe Routes to School projects and awards. Every day I have news alerts flooding my inbox about:

• State departments of transportation awarding funding  - in Alabama and California, just to name a couple states;
• State Safe Routes to School legislation being passed, including in Hawaii;
• Safe Routes to School project construction taking place, like in Quincy, IL and Lansing, KS;
• Policy change to make routes to school safer, such as the push in Missoula, MT to lower speed limits around schools.

I thought these news stories might help you stay motivated during the summer months, and get your creative juices flowing as you plan for the launch of your Safe Routes to School programs when school starts up again.

Here are some other ideas of how to stay current on Safe Routes to School in the summer:

• Refresh yourself with some of our resources. We have local policy guides, curriculum guides and success stories galore that you can browse through at your leisure thinking about how to ramp up your Safe Routes to School work come the fall.
• Check out the research and arm yourself with compelling knowledge for the next time you find yourself advocating for Safe Routes to School – you never know what argument will convince your principal, another parent or even a legislator.
• Spruce up your Safe Routes to School elevator speech. I was very inspired by my colleague, Robert Ping’s, recent blog on Telling Your Story.
• Join us at our Annual Meeting. I know, I know. I’m a broken record, but I can’t help myself. And early September still feels like summer where I live. If you are going to be in Long Beach for the Pro Walk Pro Bike Conference, then definitely plan on attending our Annual Meeting (and Safe Routes Social) as well. It’s free!

Here’s hoping you enjoy the rest of your summer – and that it is active, healthy and productive as we all keep working hard to advance Safe Routes to School together.