It’s common for parents today to be concerned about how their children will get to school. They have to plan ahead, deciding whether they’ll drive them, carpool, or if their child will ride the school bus. But walking? Never. For most, the thought of allowing their children to walk or bicycle to school doesn’t even cross their minds. These activities were things of the past.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is hoping to change this way of thinking with a federally funded program entitled Safe Routes to School (SRTS). This program advocates walking and bicycling to school, as well as enabling communities to make these activities safe for their children.

Successful SRTS programs combine education, encouragement, engineering, and enforcement strategies. Many SRTS programs incorporate creative activities such as a Walking School Bus. In this activity, the name speaks for itself, having adults acting as the ‘bus drivers’ supervising groups of walking children, and easing the minds of anxious parents. But all successful SRTS programs involve an initial safe routes plan. Anderson & Associates can assist with this plan and identify the best locations for routes. This of course involves the input of parents, school officials, and other interested citizens.

By making these activities safer and more appealing, the program will encourage a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age, assisting in conquering America’s obesity crisis and all of the serious health issues that are involved with being overweight.

The Safe Routes to School program provides two types of grants. Program Grants are available to develop SRTS plans, and supply program funding for education and related educational activities. Project Grants are intended to provide funding for design and construction for infrastructure improvements within a two mile radius of a K-8 school.

Originally from Bedminster, Pennsylvania, Dale was married in 1984 to her husband Kevin, after receiving her BS in Biology from Penn State, and her MS in Sanitary Engineering from Virginia Tech. Being the independent woman that she is, Dale elected to keep her own last name.

She has a drive to succeed in everything that she does, one of the reasons Anderson & Associates welcomed her as Project Manager. Another of Dale’s strong qualities is her versatility. Over the years, she’s worked in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, and, of course, Virginia as City Engineer for the City of Winchester. Now, at A&A, Dale is able to bring in many elements of her combined talents.

Being a successful engineer isn’t by any means all that’s important to Dale. As a mother of two active teenage boys, Sean and Bryan, Dale prides herself on being an involved on-hand mother. Between Sean’s basketball and Bryan’s wrestling, she is constantly on the go with practices, games, and matches.