Toledo Public Schools (TPS) is in love with the Walking Classroom! Through this effort of the Homeless Initiatives Department of TPS, which works to offer programming to engage students currently experiencing displacement, the kids are having a blast walking, listening, and learning! Using The Walking Classroom has allowed students to participate without being singled out. This is so important to students who are coping with homelessness.
Instead of using the program with one school, the Homeless Initiatives Department strove to offer it to as many schools as possible. During the first session, we used the program in four schools, with a total of 176 students from seven classrooms! As Program Manager, I scheduled all the schools, coordinated with the teachers, and walked with each of the classes for all of the sessions. Boy, are my legs tired!
Having the ability to go from school to school with the WalkKits gave more schools the opportunity to experience the program, and allowed more students to engage with the awesomeness of the experience. When polled, each of the students said that they would love to participate again! The teachers expressed satisfaction with the amount of information retained by students, as well as the added benefit of getting their class out and walking!
I also completed a second session with three more schools. That included seven more classrooms, averaging 24 students each. I can’t wait to get walking . . . again!
We are adapting our implementation for next school year to include a community component. This would have volunteers walking with the classes, allowing us to open the program to more schools and even more students!
Wendy Easler
Program Manager
Toledo Public Schools
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