Cameri holds the record for the highest school attendance in Italy: 80 percent of students arrive in the morning by bicycle.

CAMERI MIDDLE SCHOOL

An secondary school which achieved a national record: the highest number of students arriving in class unaccompanied by their parents by car or motorbike, but with the bicycle. About 80 percent.

We are in the municipality of Cameri, in the province of Novara, and in the morning, as someone wrote commenting on this story, at the Tadini comprehensive institute you can breathe the air of a stage of the Giro d'Italia. Almost all the 260 guys Students in their third year of middle school arrive by bicycle, punctual for lessons.

Punctuality, in this case, also depends on an important incentive made available by the school: the possibility of park the bicycle in the garage, by 8:00 a.m., when classes begin. Otherwise, they'll be in the courtyard, where the school is no longer responsible.

ALSO READ: Piedibus: The project to take children to school on foot is taking off across Italy (photos)

CAMERI MIDDLE SCHOOL'S RECORD

The result is that at the Tadini Institute there are no reports of vandalism on children's bicycles, nor any thefts. «There is a virtuous mechanism which works, and even many teachers have given up using their cars to get to school" says principal Francesco Pasciuti.

TO KNOW MORE: In Italy, you can only attend and leave school with your parents. This is true until eighth grade.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE INITIATIVE

Among the side effects of this initiative, there are two important results, one concerning the students and the other the municipal administration. In the Cameri school, the active student participation During lessons, on the other hand, those who lead a sedentary lifestyle are more exposed to the risk of boredom, tiredness, and feeling low on energy. As for the municipality, it certainly could not stand by and watch the principal's initiative, and so the bicycle path local It has been extended to the school entrance. This is good news not only for Tadini students and teachers, but for all the citizens of Cameri.

The project is competing for the 2018 edition of the Non Sprecare Award. To learn more about the competition and participate, go to here!

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(Cover image source: The print)

THE BENEFITS OF BICYCLING:

• Kids on Two Wheels: All the Benefits of Cycling
• The benefits of cycling: it's also good for the soul
• Pedal-powered school buses: children have fun and parents no longer have to take the car (photos and video)
• Cycling holidays: a short guide to cycle tourism. From the crew to the route.
• In Bari, discounts at cinemas and shops and paycheck bonuses for those who choose to commute by bicycle.
• Cycling to work is booming in Italy, but in France there's even a government subsidy.
• Bike to work: Massarosa's project to encourage bicycle use