Bike Smart: Education for young, powerful pedalers (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

"Education is a continual process, it's like a bicycle... If you don't pedal you don't go forward." - George Weah 

PEDAL POWER! This phrase stuck with me all day last Wednesday after Melissa and I volunteered with Ecology Action in doing Bike Smart rodeos at SC Westlake Elementary School with their 5th grade class. Elise Ehrheart, Bike Smart program coordinator of Ecology Action, was the voice behind the catchy phrase and the facilitator of these rodeos. These rodeos aimed to get students familiar with the structure of riding their bikes on city streets as well as mastering basic traffic laws. Melissa and I decided to volunteer at one of these rodeos to 1) get an idea on how many kids are interested in biking 2) to have a fun morning with kids! 

To start the morning off, Elise started outlining a bike course that mirrored the intersection of High St and Moore St since that's where the school is located. This course included multiple colored cones and chalk to highlight the different actions the students should be doing when they made their way to the middle of the intersection. I was amazed at the fantastic representation of the general situations the students might experience; such as, a fake rail road track, a bike lane merging with the street, how to merge to the left lane from the bike lane, and learning how to communicate their actions with the other cyclists and cars on the road. All these skills were formatted to educate these students in their participation in their school's Bike to School day that next week. 

The day really began when we all heard loud footsteps and saw a bunch of kids running out to our bike course. Many kids had bikes of their own, but for those who didn't we gave them bikes and helmets that Elise provided. We split the kids up in different groups and started them at the four different sides of the intersection. Each side had a different focus as listed above, and when they all reached the middle they had to communicate with each other to know who went first through the intersection and who did not. 

It was such a delight to be able to see so many kids be interested in biking and learning basic laws and skills. Some kids came up to us after the rodeo expressing that they had never really rode a bike before, but after completing this rodeo they felt a lot more secure and confident being on a bike. That's something you just can't wait to hear! This is particularly true since Melissa and I are about to co-facilitate bike commuting workshops to local businesses with Amelia Conlen, director of People Power. Although, these rodeos were designed for children, there are still a lot of essential knowledge that we will also be presenting to people at these workshops especially if they too feel insecure about biking. Overall, what a joy to be an educator for a day instead of being taught! Pedal Power!