What if I told you that during this school year, you have already walked the distance from North Penn High School to Virginia Beach? Well even if you don’t believe me, it is in fact true. And by the time you finish the school year, you will have walked so far that Virginia Beach will be a destination in the distant past.  

Everyone’s steps throughout the day are going to be different and will vary every day, depending on how far each of your classes are and what classes you have. If you are running from Aquatics to A pod one day, but the next you are only leisurely walking from B pod to A pod, your total step counts are going to be different. 

Most students aren’t even aware of how far they are walking. I remember the day when I realized that my phone was tracking my steps around the school. I was stunned when I learned that some days I was walking as much as five miles a day! Granted, many of those steps came from the mile I walked in gym for our walking unit. But after tracking my steps and miles this week, I still walk about 3 miles per day!

On Monday when I hopped on the bus at the end of the school day and checked my step tracker, I had only walked a total of 2.2 miles and 5,012 steps, which is particularly low for me. I realized my steps were so low because I had a double lab, which means I stayed in my seat instead of making the trek from my science class to the gymnasium and back. 

For the rest of the week, I tracked all my steps; here were my step counts for the rest of the week. 

Tuesday:  3.2 miles on 7,556 steps. 

Wednesday: 2.7 miles on 6,323 steps.

Thursday:3.5 miles on 8,143 steps. 

Friday:  2.8 miles on 6,410 steps. 

This means that the total amount of miles I walked in school this week was 14.4 miles on 33,444 steps, averaging almost 2.9 miles per day. 

After talking to a few students, I learned that many students average anywhere between 3-5 miles per day of walking when in school. Sophomore Kira Logiovine revealed that she walks a total of 7,000 to 8,000 steps per day. Logiovine unfortunately is on crutches, but after a full day of school, she reported still having walked a total of 3 miles– even while taking the elevator.

I decided to incorporate some statistics to really put our total amount of miles and steps into perspective. Let’s say we walk a total of 3 miles per day, 15 miles per week, and 33,500 steps each week for all 180 days of the school year. That would mean we walk 540 miles or 1,206,000 steps by the end of the school year. That means that by the end of the school year, we could walk all the way from North Penn High School and almost reach Quebec, Canada. You could also reach other places, for example, if you went South you would reach Charlotte, North Carolina. If you went West you would almost reach Cincinnati Ohio, and if you went straight North you would almost reach Bar Harbor, Maine.           

Sophomore Sam Ridler said she likes to walk a little further in between bells instead of walking straight to class. She explained that during the four minutes between the bells, although short, is a great way to get up and get moving. She likes to take as much advantage of this time as she can. During lunch, she also makes a point to get up and move as well because if she sits too long she has a difficult time staying focused. Between all of her little walks, Ridler walks an average of 4 miles per day, and she says that it has really helped her focus and keep her energy up during the day.   

As Ridler demonstrated, walking during the school day actually has many benefits for students. Many studies have shown that when students take breaks to walk in school, even just between classes, children have shown to have higher academic performances. These higher academic performances are likely due to better attentiveness in class from the walking. But walking doesn’t only have positive effects on your academic performance, but also on your mood. Doctors say higher steps, lower stress, and higher levels of happiness. So you may be thanking school for your higher step count and better mood.   

Next time you are racing to beat the bell to your next class, just think of all the incredible advantages that will come from your steps. And when you reach the end of the school year, just think, you may have just walked yourself all the way to North Carolina.