Image: Ricardo Seah —

A Week of Car-Free Fun at UBC

From May 15-19, Walk ‘n Roll to School returned and encouraged kids (and parents) to leave their car at home and get walking, biking or rollerblading to school. This annual program is designed to promote healthy, safe and sustainable transportation—and encourages students to experience all that is possible when we get out of the car to commute to school like getting fresh air and making new friends.

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This year we ended Walk n’ Roll celebration week with something new: a Car Free Morning at Norma Rose Point School. For this, Ortona Road was transformed into a family-friendly festival where children enjoyed playing games, hanging out with police officers and firefighters while munching on healthy snacks.

“Looks like the beginning of an annual event. Kids and parents are thrilled to participate in Car Free Morning”, said Vice Principal Carrie Froese.  

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Students from The UBC Magician and Illusionists Association came out to show the children a few enchanting tricks before the school bell rang.

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Kids also got their hands dirty while playing and learning about with soil with the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) School Gardens program. Kids were fascinated to learn about the connection between plants, animals and humans!

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The Bike Kitchen offered free tune-ups to ensure that bikes are kept in a tip-top shape. Meanwhile, volunteers registered bikes with Project 529, an anti-theft bike registry system to reduce bike theft and keep bike thieves astray. 

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Sea Smart School joined us to help teach children about our oceans and how important sustainability is to all the creatures that live in it. The children had so much fun catching fish and enjoyed being caught in demonstration fishing nets! And they thought getting out of bed was hard!

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Last but not the least, sustainability staff from Campus & Community Planning gave kids a sneak-peek into the inside of seeds! Kids were seen dissecting beans and examining them with magnifying glasses before they got to plant and take home their very own in a recycled egg carton. 

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Even though Walk n’ Roll celebration week is over, we are confident many kids will continue to walk and ride to school, especially when they know how fun and easy it is! We hope to see even more students joining us next year.