SELMA — The first Story Walk in Selma has gone up along the walking path at Blackley Athletic Park, 601 W. Noble St.

The Story Walk concept began in 2007 with Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont. A specialist in chronic-disease prevention, Ferguson was looking for fun ways to get families outside and moving. She came up with the idea of separating the pages of a children’s book and posting them along a local nature trail.

Included along the Story Walk are questions parents can ask their children. The aim is to foster family conservations and early literacy.

In Selma, Gracie Earp of Boy Scout Troop 333 in Clayton coordinated the Story Walk installation as her Eagle Scout project. She and other troop members dug the post holes and cemented all 18 Story Walk panels.

The Johnston County Partnership for Children held the ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 19. Community members, students from Selma Head Start and members of Troop 333 were on hand. The attendees received balloons and a free book and took a stroll around the Story Walk.

The first book in Selma’s Story Walk is “Different but Special” by Owen Daughtry of Johnston County. Daughtry, who has cerebral palsy, wrote the story when he was a teenager to create awareness of cerebral palsy and ensure that every child feels special.

Johnston County’s other Story Walks are at the Partnership for Children Park in Smithfield and the Dr. P.K. Vyas Community Park in Benson.