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Walking for the environment
Rishon Lezion launches new environmental project aimed at cutting back on air pollution near schools, calls on 6,000 children to walk to school on Fridays
Assaf Shmueli
Freaky Friday: The Rishon Lezion Municipality has initiated a new environmental project, calling on all school children to walk to schools on Fridays, in an attempt to boost physical education, road safety and environmentalism.
The project's pilot, which took place in 2007 and was sanctioned by the National Parents' Association, was the brainchild of Attorney Liel Even-Zohar. It stands to see some 6,000 elementary and high school student walk to school every Friday – considered the shortest school day, and one in which the majority of parents do not work on, and therefore can walk their children to school if needed.
"This is an important project and one that should be pursued not only on a local level but on a national one as well," Ilanit Harush, head of Rishon Lezion's Adini School's parents' association, told Ynet.
Once the pilot, which included three trial-runs, was dubbed a success, the Rishon Lezion Municipality decided to include all of the city's elementary schools in the project.
The project was inspired by the iwalk organization,
which operates in 42 countries around the world and encourages children to walk to school, as a means of doing something for the environment – in this case helping to minimize traffic and air pollution near schools.
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