St. Theodore Catholic School students combined exercise with fun on Wednesday during their end-of-the-school-year walking school bus and picnic.

The students, in kindergarten through fifth grade, walked from their school to Edgewater Park, where they shared lunch, played and then walked back to the school.

“It was a beautiful day to walk,” said Principal Sue Amundson.

When the school first started the activity at Edgewater Park several years ago, Amundson said the students rode a bus there. After they started thinking about it more, they decided to let the children walk instead. This is the fourth year to incorporate the walking.

“We try to help teach them that walking is great for you and teach them more healthy lifestyles,” she said.

In addition to the end-of-the-year event, the students have a walkathon and walk to field trips at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and the Freeborn County Historical Museum.

Stacy Palmer, engagement lead with the Blue Zones Project in Albert Lea, said St. Theodore Catholic School is a good example for other schools to follow. In addition to all of the walking opportunities the school provides, it also offers longer recesses than public schools.

Amundson said the Wednesday event was one of the last pieces the school needed to complete to become designated as a Blue Zones School. She plans to turn in the paperwork for designation by the end of the week.

Some of the other initiatives the school is a part of include encouraging health snacks and providing meals that meal healthy criteria, to name a few. The school offers only skim or 1 percent white milk Monday through Thursdays and chocolate milk only on Fridays.

“School leaders are in a powerful position to dramatically improve students’ well-being,” Palmer said. “At St. Theodore Catholic School they are doing just that. We congratulate them for leading the walking school bus initiative and for their commitment to student well-being.”