Northwoods Elementary PTA Seeks the Public’s Votes
Accessibility at Northwoods Elementary: Our Story on Vimeo.
Construction of a wheelchair and bicycle facility designed by NCSU students for Northwoods Elementary School in Cary could be funded through a competitive philanthropy program of State Farm Insurance. PTA members entered the project, which addresses existing access issues, into State Farm’s Neighborhood Assist Program this year. On May 8th the school learned that they had been selected as one of 200 projects across the country to compete for 40 grants of $25,000 each. A public Facebook-based voting phase is being held from May 14 – June 3, 2015 to determine which 40 projects are funded.
The Northwoods Elementary community is turning to social media to ask for votes from anyone who supports biking and walking to school. Student demand for walking and cycling is high at the Title I school, which sits adjacent to a town greenway and is surrounded by homes, but the main route into the school grounds consists of a tall concrete stairway. Safety has been a concern as kids continually attempt to roll their bikes up or down the steep slope next to the stairs and parents attempt to carry strollers with infants in their arms. The only alternative route requires kids to take a detour onto a thoroughfare at rush hour to enter the busy school driveway, crossing the heavy flow of bus and car-pool traffic not once, but twice. On national Bike to School day 2015, 85 students rode to school on the greenway, but police traffic control was required to manage the school entrance safely. The community hopes that the proposed path and ramp connection will allow students to bike to and from school independently and facilitate access by users of wheelchairs and child strollers.
According to the State Farm Neighborhood Assist competition rules, any Facebook user can vote for a project up to ten times per day, and can vote every day of the voting period. To help these students with your vote, see the public voting site for the Northwoods Elementary Bike Ramp/Path. For more information, see the PTA’s Facebook note for the project.
