Local Elementary School Given Grant For Better Sidewalks

Rangeland Elementary School in Louisville has received a federal grant to improve sidewalks.The money is part of the Safe Routes to School project, which aims to encourage more children to walk or ride their bikes to school. More than 31 thousand dollars will be used to repair and upgrade sidewalks around the school and to install bike racks.Amy Dennes is the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools in Jefferson County. She says the grant is connected to the school's focus on healthy lifestyles for students."We're really aware of the research about childhood obesity and Rangeland and Wellington are both schools that are focused on health and fitness and wellness, and this is going to play right into that and help kids get healthier," she says. "Kids can ride their bikes, they can walk to school. Right now we don't have that; the sidewalks in the neighborhood aren't what they used to be, so we're getting those fixed up. We're hoping that parents will walk their kids to school instead of driving them to school."Rangeland is the district's health and fitness for accelerated learning magnet school.