The City of Perry is out to prove school buses don’t always have to be automobiles.

Every Friday from now until the week before Thanksgiving, students in the Perry School District can participate in the “Walking School Bus” program. Deputy Library Director Misty VonBehren leads the group, and she got very excited telling Raccoon Valley Radio all about it.

“Walking School Bus is like my passion. This is a event that started probably four or five years ago with the help of Dallas County Public Health and a grant from the Wellmark Foundation, where they got some Safe Routes to School money to start a program where kids would walk to school versus being bussed or dropped off. It encourages kids to get out, get some exercise. It allows them to burn off some energy before school.”

A few years into it, VonBehren took over organizing the program, and since then she says it’s grown by leaps and bounds. On one recent Friday, they had over 40 students walking. VonBehren is very thankful for the large amount of support the program has received from community volunteers that come from several organizations and businesses around Perry.

To get involved with the Walking School Bus, students must fill out a permission slip they can get from the school or the library. There is no cost to participate. To hear more from VonBehren, listen to last Friday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.