Widefield teacher promotes active lifestyle by walking to each school in the district

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Danielle Selke is a first-year art teacher at the Grand Mountain School. She had plans to travel internationally this summer, but with the coronavirus that's not going to happen.

Instead, she decided to travel around her neighborhood in Widefield. Starting in April, and spanning over a month, she walked from her home to every school in the Widefield district -- a total of 48 miles.

"I really wanted to get out of the house and get some exercise, get some fresh air, and also encourage others to explore their own neighborhoods and look for different things that they may not have noticed before," Selke said.

Selke tracked her journey on Instagram, using #WalkingWidefield. She hopes to push people to be more active. She has lived in Widefield for about 16 years, but getting out and walking to the schools taught her things about her own neighborhood.

"I think we need a reason to come together. If that's walking to your school, or just reaching out over social media, anyway that we can feel together without physically being together, so we're staying safe, I think is very important."

"Walking around even just our neighborhood, noticing things that I've never noticed before, architecture of houses, where people hang out in their yards, it's really fascinating," Selke said. "Bringing us together through walking, through staying active, I think is really valuable."