Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Delany Lauderbaugh and her father leave their house Tuesday morning wearing matching Mark Twain Elementary sweatshirts and holding hands.
She talks on her way to school about her favorite class " music " what she's going to be for Halloween " a zombie " and what she does when she walks to school most days with a friend from her neighborhood.
"You have to watch for the guy to let you across the street," she says.
But when she and her father, Barron Lauderbaugh, get to the crosswalk in front of Mark Twain, no one is there.
"OK, there's no crossing guard today," Barron says. "What do you do?"
"I don't know," Delany, 8, says.
"You look both ways before you cross the street," Barron tells her.
The two then go inside to the gym where the Mark Twain Parent-Teacher Association is serving snacks and hot chocolate to the students and parents who left their cars at home and came to school as International Walk to School Day at Mark Twain and Seeliger elementary schools in Carson City.
The day was part of the Carson City School District Safe Routes to School Program that encourages exercise and safety for students.
About a third of the 614 students at Seeliger walked to school, according to the Carson City School District. Mark Twain didn't have exact numbers, but the PTA said many students have walked with their parents to school when the school has held the program in the past.
Margaret Lews, 6, also walked to Mark Twain that day. She usually walks home from school, but walking to school in the morning with her great-grandmother, Verna Murphy, was different for her, especially in the 40-degree air.
"I could see my breath," Margaret said.
Corey Deusenberry, 10, who walked to school with his mother, Alicia Deusenberry, said this day was the same as many days when he walks or rides his scooter to school "except it was really chilly today."
Alicia said her family is impressed with the safe neighborhood around Mark Twain and does not have any problem with letting Corey walk to school.
People in the neighborhood watch out for each other, too, said Kathy Urban, who has twin daughters in third grade at Mark Twain, so she feels safe.
Stacy Lauderbaugh, Delany's mother and president of the Mark Twain PTA, said walking to school also works for the school because teachers are welcoming to parents.
- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.