Motorists in the area are asked to keep a sharp eye Wednesday morning for students walking or riding their bikes to school.

At least two area districts plan to participate in National Walk & Roll to School Day, an international event to promote walking and rolling to school.

Iron Mountain Public Schools students Wednesday will form a “walking bus,” supervised by Mountaineer staff and school board members, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Fifth and Vulcan streets and advancing to North Elementary School, 900 Fifth St. Iron Mountain students this week have been learning about safety and benefits of walking and biking to school, according to a district news release.

In Norway, students for past three weeks have had the option of being dropped off at 7:30 a.m. at three sites — South Circle Drive at Pine Street, Norway City Hall and the Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson Norway Rehab Center on U.S. 2 — where a staff member can escort them the rest of the way to Norway Elementary School.

Norway-Vulcan Area Schools have promoted this program for about three years, a school staff member said, adding that if the weather cooperates they do these escorted walks throughout the entire month of May.

The federal Safe Routes to School program aims to —

— Enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bike to school;

— Make bicycling and walking to school safer and a more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age, and;

— Facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety while reducing traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.

“When routes are safe, walking, rolling, or biking to and from school is an easy way to commute and get the regular physical activity children need for good health,” Michigan Safe Routes to School states on its website, https://saferoutesmichigan.org/walk-to-school-day/.

The state does offer grants to districts to foster developing these routes and building a culture of walking, biking, and rolling among students

Encouraging students to get more active is a worthy goal. The public can help by driving carefully along these “safe routes,” so they stay that way.

— Iron Mountain Daily News