Though the thermostats have been dropping, it hasn’t stopped some students from walking to and from school.
Some like Jack Harris, sophomore, walk year round as an alternative to riding the bus and not being able to purchase a parking pass.
Harris said he carpools with a friend and parks at the friend’s grandmother’s house, with her permission, in the subdivision across the street and doesn’t have to walk very far to arrive at school as opposed to walking from his house, which he said is about a mile away from school.
Harris said the worst part about walking is the weather, but he likes it because he doesn’t have to ride a bus.
Harris said the way he deals with the weather is to “just bundle up because it’s going to be really cold.”
However, there are other students who walk just that distance to and from school out of their own free choice.
Dana Wesselmann, senior, is one such person. She lives “more or less” a mile away from school, which she said is approximately a 20-minute walk. She has been walking to and from school this entire year and most of last year.
Wesselmann said her stepmother encouraged her to start walking to and from school. At first Wesselmann didn’t like walking, but she said she has grown to enjoy it.
“I like the exercise. It feels nice outside,” Wesselmann said. “It’s a good way to start the morning.”
When inclement weather occurs, Rockwood does not have a set wind chill factor used as a requirement to call off school, but does take students who walk and wait at bus stops into account, Principal Dr. Greg Mathison said.
Dr. Mathison said the concern when the temperature drops is more with younger elementary students waiting outside for a bus.
“I hope at the high school level students who walk to school and their parents are using common sense, and setting up carpool, getting a ride or taking the bus,” Dr. Mathison said.
Wesselmann, however, said she walks no matter the weather.
“I take an umbrella if I need to, and layer up when it gets cold,” Wesselmann said. “I’ve walked in the snow.”
Wesselmann does not walk out of necessity; she said she could take the bus or get a ride from a friend, but she enjoys walking even when the weather is not so nice.
“You can still see animals, and sometimes cold days aren’t bad,” Wesselmann said.
The only time she recalls having gotten a ride home because of weather conditions was a day when she hadn’t brought an umbrella and “there were practically waterfalls pouring off the roof of the school,” Wesselmann said.
Wesselmann said the only other time she doesn’t walk is when she has a lot of things to carry or is running late to school.
One thing Wesselmann said she dislikes about walking was when people shout at her from their cars.
“Sometimes it’s random shouting, sometimes they say things that I don’t really like to hear, but I just ignore it,” Wesselmann said. “Sometimes it’s just my friends saying hi and that’s fine.”
The Schnucks construction on the other side of the sidewalk has not impeded her ability to walk to school but she said she’s unsure of whether it will become a problem when construction begins on the Clarkson and Kehrs Mill Roads intersection.
Wesselmann often walks home from Color Guard or Winter Guard practice at about 7:30 p.m., and said her friends often express concern about her walking home in the dark.
“I have a friend and every time I leave practice she tells me to be careful,” Wesselmann said. “My friends offer me rides all the time, but they know what my answer will be.”
