The Walk from Emporia is ON! This year walkers from Emporia will join organized walks from Kansas City and Manhattan to Topeka to show support for Kansas public schools. This page is for the Emporia walk.
If you would like to join us for any or all of the walk, or if you can’t walk but can otherwise volunteer (drivers and runners are also needed), please sign up using this Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Oqv0H3iU1sqF44QHGr950llK7vnz4kyOWTFqrQ92XZg/viewform?c=0&w=1.
We will coordinate transportation and meals so it is really necessary that we know how many are participating in the walk portions.
We will walk on March Friday, March 11, Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13. Friday we are walking 8 miles from 4-6.
Friday map: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Burlingame+Rd+%26+E+12th+Ave,+Emporia,+KS+66801/38.5191898,-96.0790994/@38.4656986,-96.1887552,12z/am=t/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m10!1m1!1s0x87b94c0359e3ab0f:0xcc6e1d047b2f47c9!2m2!1d-96.1626304!2d38.4122491!3m4!1m2!1d-96.1015032!2d38.4485128!3s0x87b94a57402a41af:0xbcaca324ab19bb5c!1m0!3e2.
Saturday we are meeting at Lyon County fishing lake and walking 20-21 miles. We are eating lunch in Miller and then walking another 8-10 miles.
Saturday map: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lyon+State+Fishing+Lake+and+Wildlife+Area,+Reading,+KS+66868/38.681033,-95.8383309/@38.6502171,-95.9432927,13z/data=!4m19!4m18!1m15!1m1!1s0x87beca7ac0172247:0x16c556f7b9b92ca9!2m2!1d-96.0586037!2d38.547511!3m4!1m2!1d-96.0247819!2d38.5538673!3s0x87becbb33d5886db:0xa8e6c62ae1ff8bc2!3m4!1m2!1d-95.9309611!2d38.6800389!3s0x87bec57cd0c62d4d:0xc3c7771723ec3eff!1m0!3e2
Sunday, we are meeting at Casey’s in Burlingame and walking to Topeka High (21 miles). Sunday map: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Casey’s+General+Store,+135+East+Santa+Fe+Avenue,+Burlingame,+KS+66413/Topeka+High+School,+800+Southwest+10th+Street,+Topeka,+KS+66612/@38.8801681,-95.8580816,11z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x87bedbf378b95a4f:0x2e6ca49a44a9e7d9!2m2!1d-95.8326681!2d38.7532739!1m5!1m1!1s0x87bf0302ff300d51:0x2528426410ad2ec5!2m2!1d-95.6855345!2d39.0494509!3e2.
On Monday, March 14, we will be joined by the walkers from the other 2 routes as well as other Kansans for a final leg. We will meet across the street from Topeka High School at 9:30 am and walk into the Capitol. Here are the details for the “Crossing the Finish Line” event: https://www.facebook.com/events/982780118476911/.
Join us for any or all of the walk! If you can’t walk but want to show your support, there are other ways to help! We are looking for volunteers to serve as “runners” to bring drinks and take walkers to bathrooms. Comment below if you would like to participate and watch here for updates. You can also email Erica.huggard@gmail.com or gameonforpubliceducation@gmail.com.
Here’s a little background information. Parents and teachers are joining together to fight for public schools. To show their commitment, they will be walking from all over Kansas to the capital as part of an event organized by Game On for Kansas Schools.
Erica Huggard, biology teacher and the president of the Emporia National Education Association says this is the [fourth] year for the walk. However, this will be the first year that a team will walk from Emporia to Topeka.
“I would really like to get a team together,” Huggard said. “To show community support for public education.”
Game On for Kansas Schools is a nonpartisan grassroots effort by parents, teachers and concerned community members. The group believes that high-quality public education is a right for all. They advocate for Kansas schools to ensure they have the resources necessary to deliver that education to all Kansas students. The group informs the community about issues and legislation regarding public education in Kansas through activities like the walk.
Currently there are two [other] confirmed routes, one from Merriam and one from Manhattan. The 60-mile walks are completed over a three-day period from March 11 through 13. The final leg of the walk begins at Topeka High School on the morning of March 14. There will be a rally at that time and then the group will walk into the capital.
“We are walking to raise awareness of the continued underfunding of our schools and the recent promotion of other harmful policy provisions that threaten our schools and the education of our children,” the Game on for Kansas Schools website says. From the Emporia Gazette http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/article_4b073a0e-2838-5184-9ed9-bd97b42e8d3b.html