For those who have been itching to get outside and take a walk, you're in luck: Missouri State University's campus has just become the 35thsite of officially recognized walking trails in the Walk Springfield initiative. A kickoff celebration took place Wednesday as part of National Walking Day. KSMU's Theresa Bettmann attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and has this report.
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Despite the clouds and threat of rain, many walkers and community partners gathered at the Foster Recreation Center to recognize the new path. John Mooney with the Greene County Health Department, MSU Provost Dr. Einhellig, and City Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky spoke at the ribbon cutting. Rushefsky presented an official proclamation designating April 2ndNational Walking Day in Springfield.
Stephen Hall is a spokesperson with the American Heart Association. He says that heart disease remains the number one killer of men and women in the US. He says getting "heart-healthy" starts with simple changes like walking 30 minutes a day.
"National Walking Day is a movement all across the country that's being led by the American Heart Association. The focus is on the importance of physical activity to living a heart-healthy life. We are so pleased that here in Springfield we're working with Missouri State University and a whole group of Walk Springfield community partners to introduce a new walking path through the heart of the MSU campus," Hall says.
Hall said he hopes the trail will become a part of everyday healthy habits for students.
Alex Miller is one of many service-learning students who helped with the event.
"I worked with a group of student leaders. We all worked together through service learning to get as many students here as we could to get them excited in heart health—which isn't the easiest task in the world when you are talking about college students," Miller says.
Service Learning students come from a variety of academic disciplines. Kathy Nordyke is the director of Citizenship and Service Learning at MSU.
"Efforts like this are really important because our Service Learning students are engaged in community-based problem solving and addressing social justice issues. With high incidents of heart attacks and childhood obesity that are prevalent in our community, and other communities as well, this is one way that students can take the knowledge and skills they're learning in the classroom and apply it to real-world experiences," says Nordyke.
