OAKLEAF – Students at Oakleaf Village Elementary will be lacing up their sneakers, dusting off their bicycles and snapping on their helmets for an event that aims to promote wellness.

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, children and teachers across the United States will celebrate “Walk & Roll to School Day,” the annual event promoting the health benefits of walking and biking.

With an enrollment of more than 1,000 students, the OVE administration hopes to join in solidarity with more than 217 registered schools participating throughout the state and 2,020 events planned across the country. “I’m hoping for at least a 75-80% turnout. I would love to see 700-800 (or more) students come out to this event. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Principal Jason Martin.    

The plan for a high turnout: make Walk & Roll to School Day a big-ticket event. Football players and cheerleaders from nearby Oakleaf High will be signing autographs. The high school’s drum line will perform, and the event will even serve as a pep rally for the elementary school’s basketball team, which has a big tournament coming up. Meanwhile, Elevate Fitness of Orange Park owner Ray Carr will host a fitness instruction class.

A police escort by the County Sheriff’s Department and the State Highway Patrol will ensure the safety of the hundreds of children, parents and guardians during the walk. Superintendent of Schools David Broskie and Sherriff Michelle Cooke will be there if that’s not enough.

However, none of the sideshows will get in the way of the event’s true focus: promote safety on routes to and from school and encourage walking and biking as productive physical activities. That message will be preached all week in Physical Education class leading up to the big day, said Alan Brown, first-year PE instructor and longtime sixth-grade teacher at the school.   

In an era where TikTok and video

games have kept children from the backyard and playground, stressing the importance of daily exercise and prudence from damaging screen time will be a major focus for Brown and Dawn Brancaccio, fellow first-year PE instructor and longtime first-grade teacher.

“That’s going to be one of our main teaching standards. We’re going to be hitting really hard on that. In today’s age, we have to get the (children) out doing as much as possible because there really are so many draws inside the house, sitting on the couch,” Brown said.

Brown’s goal is to transform Walk & Roll to School Day into an annual tradition at OVE.

“We want to be doing this year after year and make it into a known statement at OVE that staying active is not only important when they come to Physical Education class, but also on the commute to and from school,” he said.   

Martin said he, Brown, Brancaccio and other faculty will be outside, congratulating students on their healthy decision and encouraging them to continue to do so in the future.

“We’re going to be outside saying, ‘Look, walking and riding your (bicycle) to school are healthy habits, and this is just a day to kick off those healthy habits,’” he said.   

The second-year principal encouraged students to commit to exercising on their daily commute to class, hoping to spark greater change in the walkable, bikeable community.

“We only have one single bus that comes to our school. Almost greater than 95% of our school population lives within walking or biking distance. So, with that, living in (Oakleaf) that has a true community-based school, let’s encourage and promote that health and wellness (through) walking and biking,” Martin said. “This will lay a foundation for a lifelong love of fitness,” Brancaccio said. For the event, students and a parent or guardian can arrive at school any time after 7:30 a.m.