Meet Our Mid-Valley: Beth Schmidt’s passion is keeping kids safe

This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals who are passionate about our Mid-Valley community.

On Feb. 8, a Parrish Middle School student was hit by a car in a crosswalk outside the school, near where a student had been hit 10 months earlier.

A week later, Beth Schmidt was at that same intersection handing out safety bracelets to students.

Schmidt is the Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School coordinator. Her job is to teach kids, and by extension their parents, how to be safer walkers, bicyclists, and bus riders.

Pedestrian deaths are at a 40-year high nationwide, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. And Oregon has had one of the largest increases in the country.

“We have had students hit while walking and riding bikes to and from school,” Schmidt said.

In her 15 months on the job, Schmidt has forged partnerships with Salem-Keizer Public Schools and the cities of Salem and Keizer. And she’s expanded the local program from pedestrian safety to bicycle safety and, soon, to transit safety.

“This is my dream job,” Schmidt said. “I’m very excited about the progress we’re going to make.”

Salem-Keizer late to join Safe Routes to School

Safe Routes to School is a national program that promotes walking and bicycling to school through safety education, infrastructure improvements and incentives.

It has been around since the 1990s, but really took off when the federal government began funding it in 2005. That year, Eugene-area school districts were among the first areas in Oregon to get federal funding.

“Other cities and places around the state have wonderful programs,” Schmidt said. “It just didn’t get going here.”

In 2020, the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments conducted a study and applied for a grant to start the program. But the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to partner with schools.

That was challenging for the previous coordinator, Schmidt said.

“She had to engage with the community in other ways,” she said.

Schmidt took over the job in October 2022.

She began by teaching pedestrian safety during elementary level physical education classes, and a few months later, former Salem-Keizer Public Schools Superintendent Christy Perry agreed to incorporate the program into the curriculum.

That means Schmidt now supplies P.E. teachers with the knowledge and materials to provide the instruction themselves.

Schmidt organized the area’s first Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day in November 2022, at Bush Elementary School.  Last year, eight schools participated.

She is partnering with Cycle Oregon to bring a bike fleet to the district this spring, which will move from school to school for bicycle safety classes, and recently received a grant to buy helmets and reflective equipment.

And, she is partnering with Cherriots, the Salem area’s public transit system, to create a “mobile classroom” to teach transit skills.

“We need to destigmatize taking the bus,” she said. “We need to show how it is easily accessible.”

Co-worker’s death drives home mission

Schmidt was born in La Grande and graduated from tiny Elgin High School, among a class of 38.

She graduated from Western Oregon University and worked for the California State Legislature.

After moving back to the Salem area, she worked as a substitute teacher in Salem-Keizer Public Schools while raising three children, who are now 21, 19 and 15.

Schmidt said she is thrilled to continue working with schools and students.

“This has been a really fun opportunity for me,” she said.

But the job has been sobering as well.

In December of 2022, when she was two months into the job, Schmidt’s coworker was hit and killed by a car as she was crossing the street in front of their downtown Salem office.

Denise Vandyke, 54, had entered a crosswalk when the signal changed for her, but was hit by a van turning right, according to police reports. Vandyke was taken to Salem Hospital, where she died.

“I was one of the staff that came down to the street and saw the aftermath,” Schmidt said. “So, for me, teaching pedestrian safety, Denise is always going to be in my mind. I will always carry her in my heart.”

The next step is infrastructure

Schmidt has spent the first months of her job standing up the education programs.

Now, she’s turning her attention to improving infrastructure.

“It’s about, how do you make this area accessible so students can go out and walk and ride their bikes,” she said.

Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School is creating recommended walking routes for all of the district’s elementary schools.

Schmidt is also encouraging the public to weigh in on public infrastructure projects, such as the city of Salem’s $300 million safety and livability bond.

The city is taking comments through March 31, at https://www.cityofsalem.net/government/shaping-salem-s-future/safety-and-livability-bond/safety-and-livability-bond-pedestrian-project-request.

“Maybe their students walk certain places, and they can tell the city, hey, you need this crossing,” she said. “That’s a big deal.”

Schmidt said her ultimate goal is to help young people feel independent and empowered to move about their world the way they want to.

“They’re not stuck because they don’t have a car,” she said. “They could ride their bicycle to the bus, put it on the bus and then go to the train station. Put their bike on the train and go to the airport. They need to know how to move about their world independently and have the freedom of their own choice.”

If you have an idea for someone we should profile for this series, please email Statesman Journal executive editor Cherrill Crosby at crosbyc@statesmanjournal.com 

Tracy Loew covers education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School coordinator Beth Schmidt