Yorkton Regional High School’s annual Walk and Roll Day will be a provincewide event this year.

Since its start at YRHS six years ago, Walk and Roll Day — when all of the school’s staff and students are encouraged to reach school using active transportation methods such as walking, biking, or rollerblading — has expanded across the Good Spirit School Division and Yorkton at large.

On May 14, YRHS SRC co-president Steven Hutton and external publicity director Brandey Blahut spoke to City Council and had June 6, 2012 officially declared Walk and Roll Day in Yorkton.

Now, thanks to a letter from SRC co-president Tara Lazurko, next Wednesday has been declared Walk and Roll Day across Saskatchewan by Minister of Tourism, Parks, Culture, and Sport Bill Hutchinson.

“We weren’t sure if anything would even happen with it this year, so it was pretty exciting to get it recognized in Saskatchewan,” says Lazurko.

In response to her request, Lazurko received a certificate from the Government of Saskatchewan earlier this month making the designation official.

Walk and Roll Day is meant to promote active living as well as greater involvement in one’s school or community, the SRC president says.

The school sets a goal of having a completely empty parking lot on Walk and Roll Day each June. To encourage students to do their part, YRHS gives out prizes such as a bicycle and a skateboard donated by sponsors. Other schools and businesses are encouraged to offer similar promotions.

Lazurko doesn’t expect Walk & Roll Day to catch on outside the school division this year, but with its new official status she hopes to see towns and cities across Saskatchewan promoting the event in the next few years.

When it happens, Lazurko looks forward to saying that it all started at YRHS.

“It’s very exciting. It’s cool to say that we did something that big.”