Upper Valley Healthy Eating Active Living Partnership

This Month's HEAL Healthy Hero - Amy Ballou!

Kids at the Mount Lebanon School are walking home from school every Friday this winter thanks to the organizing efforts of Amy Ballou, a physical education teacher at the school. Amy has brought enthusiasm, determination, and great organizing skills to mobilize “walk home school buses” each Friday.

The key to the “walk home” buses has been the involvement of an outstanding group of parent volunteers. “Our volunteers are the real heros” says Ballou. “They’re making a big commitment to making walking home accessible to a lot of our kids.

Every Friday, there are five “walk home” routes from the school. Each route is led by a parent volunteer. Children whose parents have given permission then walk home with the volunteers. Along with getting 10-45 minutes of physical activity while walking, Ballou says that one of the best things about the Walk Home buses is the relationships that are being built. “Kids start to learn that there are other adults in their neighborhood they can ask for help. And we’ve started seeing some of the older kids taking on a protective ‘big buddy’ role with some of the younger walkers.”

Ballou recruited parent volunteers from parents whom she knows already walk their kids home from school. She has developed the permission slips, garnered administrative support for the project, and works with the Lebanon Safe Routes to School Task Force to identify things that would make the Walk Home Buses safer or more popular. “With more volunteers,” says Ballou, “we could increase the number of days we offer the Walk Home Bus.”

This past fall, Ballou was instrumental in organizing Mount Lebanon’s “Walk This Way” event last October 30th. For its Walk This Way event, Mount Lebanon worked with parents, kids, teachers, and the district’s bus coordinator, Wanda Hastings, to offer all children at the school the opportunity to be dropped off at a location several blocks from school and to walk to school escorted by parents and teachers. At school, children participated in an assembly where Lebanon Police Chief Jim Alexander talked about walking safety, and Jim Esdon, from the CHaD Injury Prevention Center provided kids with reflective bags for use during their Halloween adventures.

Along with her efforts to increase walking, Ballou also oversees the creation and maintenance of a skating rink at Mount Lebanon, which can be used by kids as well as other community members.

Upper Valley HEAL is proud to highlight all that Amy Ballou does to make the Mount Lebanon School and its community the healthiest possible place for kids and families.

Do you know of someone who is a Healthy Hero? Tell us! Each Month Upper Valley HEAL will celebrate a member of the Upper Valley community who through professional or community service makes it easier for children and families to eat smart, get out, and be active.