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Shelley Osterloh ReportingRemember the good ole days when folks used to have to walk ten miles or so to get to school? That's just what one Davis County Principal today. It was all to prove a point and reward her students for walking.
If you are going to walk ten miles to school, you have to leave at early light.
"Nice beautiful day, cool just a few sprinklers to get us."
Elementary School Principal Kathleen Bagley says she tries to walk a little every day, mostly with her students. But today she and other staffers at Stewart Elementary are walking to reward their students.
Kathleen Bagley, Principal Stewart Elementary, Walked 10 miles to school: "Well because the kids met their goal to walk a mile each, every week of the school year, which is the equivalent of walking around the world. So I had to do something."
Alison Garlick: "The kids set a goal at the beginning at the beginning of the school year to walk 24-thousand miles, so every recess, before and after school they've been walking miles to accumulate."
Stewart Elementary is part of the Gold Medal School program, which encourages kids to make healthy food choices and get more physical activity.
Joan Vetts, Asst. Principal, Walked 7 miles to school: "They say that this generation, with the obesity, the childhood obesity that this generation will die younger than their parents if they don't change their habits."
School officials say they hope children learn to be active and stay active for their whole lives. In Utah, it's estimated that one in four elementary school aged children is overweight. Now that students at Stewart Elementary have achieved their fitness goals, they are eligible for a $1500 prize to improve their school's environment.
